Springfield Technical Community College hosted a forum Tuesday, Sept. 18, that featured expert insight on drug addiction and recovery and an examination on how drugs can help in medical procedures.
At the special guest talk on drugs, students in the auditorium of Scibelli Hall heard from Dr. Elilzabeth A. Evans, a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Dr. Murugappan Muthukumar, Wilmer D. Barrett Distinguished Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering, UMass, Amherst.
Biology Professor Reena Randhir asked her students to reflect on their experience at the discussion. Guadalupe Drew Torres, SGA president who participated in the talk, said, “I was very fascinated and inspired with her powerful PowerPoint and all the amazing things she shared about overcoming addiction.”
“She mentioned that she moved to Massachusetts because this is where her expertise, knowledge and skills are required. It is tragic to note that over 93,000 plus people have died from drug abuse during the first year of the COVID pandemic, which is a 30% increase from the prior year,” Torres wrote in his blog.
Torres said he hopes to enter the nursing program at STCC.
Another student, Christina Mosijchuk, is taking prerequisites for the sonography program.
“I was one of the participants in the guest talk on drugs,” she said. “As students, we were very excited to partake in this, because it was hosted by our Anatomy and Physiology class! I was so glad to see that the auditorium was jam packed with not only our college students, but local high school students also.”
Dr. Evans spoke about the adverse effects of Drug abuse and Dr. Muthukumar shared how medicinal drugs can be a boon to humanity.
“Both the talks were outstanding and inspiring,” Mosijchuk said.
To read the full blogs from the students, visit STCCy Notes. Here is a link to Christina Mosijchuk’s blog and a link to Drew Torres’ blog.
