By Emily Wei, Lifestyle Columnist
Happy October! Hopefully now that the first month of school is underway, you’re all settling into a routine, and for those of you not in school still, I hope the past month wasn’t as hectic for you as it was for most students. September was quite the month for Nova Scotia but hopefully everyone is safe at home and eager to move on to the next month. Aside from the obvious September headlines, I myself am a university student at Dalhousie and originally accepted my offer into the Nursing program but switched into a Bachelor of Science! Anyway, I am very happy with my decision and will be majoring in Neuroscience with a minor in Computer Science. Speaking of neuroscience, I thought that for this month’s column, I would talk about the Dalhousie Undergraduate Neuroscience Society!
The Dalhousie Undergraduate Neuroscience Society (UNS) is student-led and aims to bring students with an interest in neuroscience together through various events. With their annual general meeting having happened in September, all open council positions have been filled and I am happy to have been chosen as the Vice-President of Communications and work with the other members of the Executive team this year! Aside from council positions, the Society has created committees this year for anyone to join and help out. These new committees include; academic advising, fundraising, gala, and social events.
Considering this society is very events-based, now would be a good time to shed some light on some of our main events throughout the school year. Starting off strong, Brain Awareness Week is hosted every Spring by UNS to fundraise money in support of brain research. On top of this there is an annual Psychology and Neuroscience Charity Gala. Last year, all proceeds were donated to the Epilepsy Association of the Maritimes and the gala had a silent auction, awards for students/ staff, special guest speakers, and prizes! The Neuroscience Society also holds 1 Journal Club meeting each month where research papers are presented and discussed for anyone interested.
Specifically in October, the Neuroscience Society will be organizing an Outdoor Games Night, Pumpkin carving, Society Mooseheads Game, and Trivia night. The Outdoor Games Night will not only live up to it’s name with events such as; spikeball, frisbee, and bocce, but there will also be hot chocolate! October is infamous for Halloween and what would Halloween be without pumpkins? At this event, participants will carve pumpkins in an attempt to win some prizes! Lastly, neurotrivia events are always a hit and allow teams to win prizes if they’re able to show off enough of their neuroscience/ Dalhousie knowledge!
That’s about it for this month, but if you would like to stay updated with this society’s updates and events, make sure to follow their instagram @dalhousieuns and soon our website will be up and running as well!
