My sublime padlet by Sophia Glaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c Made with a curious mind en-us 2021-01-29 14:44:53 UTC 2025-08-28 16:41:06 UTC hello@padlet.com Week 1 (1/29/21) sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1140869690 When I first pressed the zoom link, I immediately got excited about the course and reassured my decision to enroll. The music, energy, and team seem incredible. A little about me is that I love working out. Before this class, I ran a 5k, and this is the same environment that I need from a class with my inability to sit still on zoom for too long. I remember finding this course first semester freshman year when I looked at the class options for the Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation minor. With my knowledge in the foundations of Nonprofits, approaches and entrepreneurial skills required to make a social impact, and generating solutions to our world's most significant challenges, I am excited to learn how to bring this to healthcare. In the minor courses I have previously taken (PLCY213, PLCY214, and PLCY215), I have worked with Sexual Assault and disability organizations in the Washington D.C. area. I have learned how to make an impact from a nonprofit and the work that goes into a nonprofit organization in terms of understanding business, finance, communication, and so much more. The aspect of design-thinking and working in a team through this course will bring success to all of my interests. Working to bridge the gap between wealthy and low-income communities with healthcare delivery has always been an interest to me. In my opinion, all pre-medical students should learn about healthcare delivery as it is a field to better the world around them. I am so excited to learn from the teaching team and expand on my interests. Surayyah made me even more thrilled with her years of involvement from this course beyond one semester, making me eager for how my future will change to improve the world around me from this course. ]]> 2021-01-29 14:49:41 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1140869690 Introduction sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1142543211 My name is Sophia Glaros. I am currently a Sophomore majoring in Physiology and Neurobiology and minoring in Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation on a pre-medical track. I am contemplating the option of getting a Master's degree in Public Health or applying for an MD/P.h.D program. My interest lies in many different areas, such as child and maternal health and disability advocacy, public health policy, nonprofit leadership to achieve social impact, healthy lifestyle communication, and medicine.
In high school, I spent 275 hours volunteering with the allied sports program throughout high school, working to bridge the gap between the students with typical and atypical development through an inclusive sports team. This led to my desire to learn both the policy and scientific sides of Autism Spectrum Disorder. In the iGive Carillon Community, I had the opportunity to work in a group of four to create a virtual Spread the Word to End the Word Campaign by conducting empathy interviews and working with the local Special Olympics Chapter. I also work in the Developmental Social Cognitive Neuroscience Lab on campus, where I am working on completing a meta-analysis on the brain regions involved in social interaction to understand atypical development for individuals with ASD (I just submitted a poster of my research to the annual Stanford Research Conference, which was pretty exciting!). Furthermore, last semester, I completed the Federal Fellows Public Health Policy program, where I was able to look at the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of health policy. These experiences led me to take HLSA484 to expand my knowledge on a local level. I want to take what I have learned in the past and combine it with skills and advanced designed thinking to redesign health care delivery on a local level. I also want to learn more about my passions and my future as a pediatric doctor to lead me. I know this course will also be a form of self-discovery to see where my interests lie. 
Another fun fact about me is that I love exercising and cooking. I have a healthy lifestyle social media account where I post life advice, exercise routines, and recipes that I have created myself. I have expanded this interest in becoming an F the Freshman 15 Ambassador and the health and wellness chair for my sorority. My account deepened my passion for healthy eating patterns as I have discovered the world of eating disorders through many of the other health accounts that I follow on social media. I am not sure how this ties to my academic interests, but there is not a day where I do not cook or exercise, whether it is running, biking, strength, kickboxing, yoga, or anything else. I have attached a picture of my fitness account feed to show some of the recipes I have made and some of my favorite exercises.  ]]> 2021-01-29 21:13:02 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1142543211 Week 2 (2/5/21) sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1169036510 I loved class today. I have taken courses in the past where two and a half hours on zoom is dreadful. I like how engaged everyone in the class is and how everyone indeed took this class to learn the material. I have never been in a class this engaged in the morning, and the passion shines through each member of the teaching team and student.
I was in the iGive Carillon community and took the IDEA101 course, which was directly focused on the design thinking process. I worked with Erica a lot through these courses, so it was cool for her to play a role in this course. I have done similar activities where I incorporated design thinking into my daily life, which is actually how I declared the Nonprofit Leadership and Social Innovation minor and found this course. It was very cool coming back to this way of thinking to change the way I view myself and my daily activities. It is interesting when all of the courses start to blend and utilize skills from one class to another. 
I also really enjoyed getting to know my classmates. Through being interviewed, I learned that one of the students in my group worked as a personal trainer, and she explained how I could get certified through a course at the University of Maryland. It was very insightful to hear ideas and perspectives from all of my classmates. This went to show that my passions for serving the medical needs of communities, nonprofit leadership, public health policy, and health and wellness all blend. Furthermore, I learned that I could learn something new in this course to advance my future from the students as much as the faculty. 
I am very excited to apply this information more to healthcare and expand on my current interests and career aspirations. It was also beneficial to have a break in the middle of class to eat breakfast and settle into my morning routine. I enjoy everything about this class and the whole teaching team. I am super excited for the entire semester to come. ]]> 2021-02-05 16:28:40 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1169036510 Week 3 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1198595862 In class today, it was very interesting interviewing my roommate Jacklyn. I interviewed her on both health and the origins of her name to bring us closer together. I learned that her name is not spelled the American way because she was named after her grandpa Jack, so her parents wanted the full name "Jack" in her name. I found this very interesting because I did not even realize there was a reasoning behind the k in her name. Furthermore, I loved interviewing Jacklyn about health because that is something that brings us together as roommates. Every day, we do Yoga together and it is the highlight of our day. We both have taken a strong approach to improving our mental and physical health during the Pandemic, which is so important. It really is crazy how much people can open up on a one-on-one setting and how one question allows you to learn so much about an individual. 
Furthermore, incorporating health into class made me very excited for the semester up ahead. Learning about a prototype that was implemented at the Mona Center gave me a lot of hope and excitement for the semester up ahead. I absolutely love starting the design thinking process and learning each step. I utilized this method to create my disability advocacy campaign through the iGive carillon community course. It is very interesting learning everything again and learning small details to continue building my utilization of the design thinking process. I am excited for what is to come for the rest of the semester. There is no other class that makes me this excited, especially on a Friday morning!]]> 2021-02-13 00:10:41 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1198595862 Week 4 2/19 reflection sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1219761652 The class today was very enjoyable and interactive. In the beginning of the class, I absolutely loved the flower and vase drawing idea. It truly showed how different everyone views flowers and their purpose. In our society, a flower is used to symbolize love, the environment, a garden, congratulations, or even a painting on a wall. A painting is how I took the approach of a flower because my bedroom at home has two huge flowers on the wall, so it always reminds me of home. I attached my drawing on the top. 
I have also really enjoyed the interview process and learning about different perspectives of health. I think in many ways the pandemic has brought a positive outlook on health as more individuals are prioritizing exercise and healthy eating. This trend has become evident across my friends and now I have learned my classmates as well. I am very excited to interview a stranger this week to keep on learning more perspectives. I am truly loving the work and community feel of this course and look forward to continuing a great semester.]]> 2021-02-19 17:45:45 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1219761652 Week 5 2/26 Reflection sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1245851696 The largest highlight of the class was watching the Feed Anne Arundel. This video really captured how personal narratives can capture attention more than a statistic. As a biology major, I am consistently focused on the science, the research, and the math behind everything. This video reminded me to take a step back and focus on one person. When half a million individuals have died from COVID-19, it is challenging to relate to that number. However, the story of one family almost brought tears to my eyes. This really helped me see how to incorporate storytelling and then a call to action. This is truly something I want to build my skills in to learn how to know who my audience is and how to bring an emotional appeal to them. 
Furthermore, I always enjoy the group work and discussing the differences between the interviews with my groups. We were truly able to discover the similarity in numerous individuals prioritizing holistic healthcare as opposed to simply mental or physical health. However, we distinguished a difference between the male and the female interviews where males were more focused on strength and growth in a weight room whereas females tend to workout to advance their mental health and physical health. Furthermore, we discovered a consistent trend in the lack of health care access to University of Maryland students. It is very concerning that students prefer an urgent care or their home pharmacy as opposed to the resources offered on campus. ]]> 2021-02-26 16:15:56 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1245851696 Week 6 3/5/21 Reflection sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1285427639 I genuinely have really enjoyed working in my group. We all always have positive aspects to contribute to the group conversation. It is very interesting how people with such different backgrounds and interests could pull out the same timestamps of parts of the webinar that we found fascinating. 
I am also in a a program called EMRAP where we learned about clinical research. I am now seeing how this course can connect with all of my other courses. I shared the webinar with Dr. Faucci with my class today to demonstrate how to approach clinical trials and work towards ensuring every community is getting the COVID-19 vaccines. The statement that Dr. Faucci used in the webinar that stuck with me the closest was the phrase, "Non-brown black people need to understand the historical issues that cannot go away. The history of how the federal government have treated brown and black people. You cannot get upset with brown and black people. You have to say that you respect your hesitancy and that you have to accept that those things did happen, but now there are safeguards in place. You need to be understanding of hesitancy and acknowledge the past."
With a desired future in medicine, public health, and research, I know I will carry this webinar with me and continue to share it with my peers. 
The fact that my group completes all of the assignments and are always ready to have an engaging conversation on a Friday morning will always inspire me. I am beyond excited to continue analyzing the webinar into this week with my group. ]]> 2021-03-09 02:41:36 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1285427639 Week 7 3/12/21 reflection sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1303873969 I absolutely loved speaking with the guest speakers today. My group had the opportunity to talk with Barbra Hoffstein and Wesley Queen. Each of these individuals had a remarkably different organization and background, which provided instrumental and compelling interviews. 
Barbra Hoffstein mentioned that she worked in adult nursing homes before the pandemic to affect those that did not have the means to go to a nursing home. She noted that these centers had to be closed down from COVID and that her organization's grants have not been used. This made her very concerned because she is unsure where these adults are now and caring for them. Furthermore, she mentioned that her organization almost entirely consists of all white, older women, so she has had to go out of her way to obtain racial equity information to ensure that her organization is effective and know how to work with black-run organizations with empathy. I think that this is something every organization should take advantage of. 
Wesley Queen left us with the piece of advice that "You won't get everything done that you want, so you will have to adjust and change to move forward. Do not waste your time worrying about others because not everyone will love you, so you have to be prepared to work with different personalities." I felt this quote this week when planning for my future semesters, potential internships, and brainstorming my future. I have started to learn that I have too many goals and interests, so I need to know how to narrow down my aspirations and figure out where I can make the most significant impact and what I would find the most rewarding. He also mentioned that getting started was even more challenging than the COVID-19 pandemic, which I found very interesting. 
I am very excited to discuss these interviews with my group after spring break to work on our projects. ]]> 2021-03-12 18:47:23 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1303873969 Week 8 3/26/21 Reflection sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1362372024 Unfortunately, I have really not been feeling well this past week. My roommate got COVID-19, so I have been taking care of her and feeling very fatigued. Luckily my PCR just came back negative, so it must have just been a cold. 
Since I was unable to participate in class, I am going to write my reflection on my reaction to the 

Colors of COVID-19 Barbershop & Salon Talk. 

I watched this talk directly after my passover Seder with my family from New York, Florida, and Arizona. We were discussing the differences in mask regulations, school openings, and the availability of vaccines. In the introduction of the talk when Dr. Thomas asked for one word, and Omar Near responder “power,” I was taken back. An hour before, my aunt was complaining about the lifting of the mask mandate in Arizona, so I was immediate feeling “powerless.” I felt like we had gone so far forward to now move back in the direction against masks. 
The next part of the talk directly related to me when discussing, "can you get COVID-19 more than once?" In September, I already had COVID-19, which worsened my IBS significantly and I am now forced to take double the amount of medication. My hair falls out, my taste never came back, and I cannot sleep a night without waking up in sweat. Fear raced through me as I was petrified of these symptoms worsening. I knew most people could not get COVID-19 again, but I also know the select few that have. It was very fascinating to learn the science behind contracting the COVID-19 for a second time. 
"Variants of concern have arisen in Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom:
  1. More transmissible 
  2. Cause worsened disease 
  3. Evade the immune protection created from vaccines"
It was shocking to me to learn about the B17  variant in the US currently, which causes much worsened transmission. 50-100% more transmissible than the COVID-19 virus we were dealing with right now. Furthermore, I learned that the cause of these infections are mutations.  If everyone is vaccinated than these mutations cannot occur. Even if people are not scared of the current COVID-19 virus, new variants can arise without the vaccine. This goes in line with how getting a vaccine both protects those around you and your community. 
“Lets save each others life” Vaccines are not new, so we need to work as a community to continue saving each others lives. 
After watching this webinar, I was shocked with only seeing 53 views. I was always going to get the vaccine as soon as it became available to me, however, I was even more convinced through this video. It seems that these messages need to be on the road, websites, and everywhere to truly get the message across for the need to vaccinate.
]]> 2021-03-29 01:05:25 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1362372024 Week 9 Reflection 4/2/21 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1378246376 The best part about this course is that I can truly combine what I am learning in my foundations of nonprofit leadership course to the materials in this class. As part of that course, I am learning about leadership within the nonprofit sector and interviewing many successful individuals. Yesterday, I interviewed Julie Rosenthal who is the founder of Food on the 15th in Howard County. This program operates on no overhead where non-perishable food is donated and people volunteer their time to collect, sort, and deliver the food to low-income older individuals in Howard County. The name Food on the 15th stems from the food being donated to Morningside Apartments and Timber Hudson Building on the 15th of every month. This organization works to overcome the challenges of social security checks running out and older individuals unable to buy food for the second half of the month and the physical limitations that make it difficult to travel to food banks. When I asked about what prepared her for her leadership position, she explained that graduating from the college of business and management at the University of Maryland, she learned to have tenacious ideas and have bold ideas. She learned how to work in the system in a good way, looking at what you are given and how you can make it happen. She has this belief that when you have an idea, there are three questions that you have to answer:
  1. Is it legal?
  2. Is it ethical?
  3. Does it hurt anyone?
If the idea is legal, ethical, and harmless, then you can run with the idea. It is essential to find workable solutions around obstacles. She developed this from a story of her son when he was three. There was a big bowl of individually wrapped bright candy at a doctor’s office when he was three. She initially would not let him eat the candy because they thought he would choke on this candy, so he could not have the candy. In two minutes, he asked again if he left the candy in his hand and licked it instead. He just saw a solution to the problem, and now she does not have to worry he will choke, but he still gets candy. This was the start of him finding solutions to everything. When you come across an obstacle, find a solution that will not hurt anyone. 
I really enjoyed the Stanford University Center for Professional Video about the design thinking process, which related to Julie Rosenthal's Philosophies. The video mentioned individual limits and the fear of failure, which he combatted by saying you have to fail fast if you want to succeed sooner. 
These resources combined helped me work with the my team because we are gathering all of our ideas that could potentially better the community. We are not worrying about failure, we are just keeping all of the ideas out no matter how challenging these could be to succeed.
]]> 2021-04-02 15:38:54 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1378246376 Week 10 Reflection 4/9/21 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1405503396 This week was really phenomenal to see how we are personally going to have the ability to make an impact. Through our knowledge that we have obtained in class, it is incredible that we are already at the prototype stage. Our group has been working really hard to learn how vaccination centers have formed and the specific practices that have been  used to effectively get individuals that have distrust in the past to get vaccinated. 
It is also really cool how much I am learning from my other group members. We all come from a different past and interests, but when we come to working on creating our project, we are all on the same page in the change that we want to make in PG county. 
In a world where the past year has been consistent hate and negativity on the news, it is really incredible to see the impact that we can make with people that see the light and positivity at the end of the tunnel. I am also really looking forward to being able to work in the farm to see this impact in person. ]]> 2021-04-12 02:34:48 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1405503396 Week 11 Reflection 4/16/2021 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1425845519 This class was the best class thus far. Hearing the perspectives of Mike and Beth was very helpful and powerful. It was also very impressive that Mike was able to give a haircut while speaking to us. 
First, Beth was very insightful to our project. She allowed us to understand that we need to advocate for the positive benefits of receiving the vaccine. She explained that a lot of the population finds the vaccine pointless, so they need to understand the benefits. Furthermore, she explained that we need to visually show the prototype. 
Second, Mike allowed us to understand that we need to get more background on the places we want to implement a vaccine clinic. We have the idea of speaking to the Mona Clinic when we go to volunteer tomorrow morning, but he explained that we need to come with specific questions and demonstrate our understanding of their work. 
It was very promising to hear that all of our prototypes will be possible to achieve and all we need is the energy behind our idea to make it a reality. I am very excited to implement these ideas and hopefully have a real prototype for our final presentation. 
Lastly, it is very exciting that after this virtual class, Ellie and I are carpooling to the Mona Farm together, so we can finally meet in person. This class is honestly the highlight of my week and I am very excited to see what is to come. 

]]> 2021-04-16 15:16:23 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1425845519 Week 12 Reflection 4/23/2021 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1476408550 Going to the farm with Ellie and Sheree was truly incredible. It was amazing to see the resources and food that the Mona Farm can provide to the community. The best part was that I was physically involved in the production. I enjoyed seeing the results of my efforts, whether it was putting nutrients into the soil, planting new crops, or harvesting spinach.
The best part was that a member of the community stopped by to see what was going on at the farm and left with fresh spinach. This was a true example of what we learn in class every week: communities are built through word of mouth, and all it takes is one positive experience in the community.
This prompted Ellie and me to conduct additional research at the Mona Center in order to potentially integrate a vaccination clinic with the existing mobile clinic. It was fascinating to see how a current solution to societal problems such as food insecurity and a lack of fresh food was being addressed, as well as how a similar approach was being used to address the COVID-19 pandemic via the same mechanisms.]]> 2021-04-30 00:58:49 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1476408550 Work at the Mona Farm sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1476425000 Live work at the farm putting nutrients into the soil to grow crops for this upcoming growing season. ]]> 2021-04-30 01:04:47 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1476425000 Week 13 Reflection 4/30/2021 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1500756803 Due to health concerns, I was unable to attend class last week. My high heart rate turned out to be a delayed reaction to my COVID-19 vaccine. When I learned the results of these tests, I realized the dilemma of vaccine hesitancy in the United States. Taking the side effects, knowing that I will be protecting my community from COVID-19 is preferable to not receiving the vaccine at all. This made me think about other people in the community who might not share my viewpoints. It's frightening to think that the potential side effects of vaccines could scare people away from protecting their community from a pandemic that has lasted over a year.
This has convinced me that I want to continue working on vaccine advocacy after this course and find ways to educate members about the importance of specific health measures, such as keeping up with vaccines, even after COVID-19. Our project excites me because it has provided us with the opportunity to learn about the design-thinking process and apply it to our community. The best part about the project was working with Ellie because we are like-minded individuals with similar goals and interests, which we discovered by volunteering at the Mona Farm together. The time spends in doctors' offices getting tests done allowed me to reflect on the course and the ways my mind has changed in the sense of the COVID-19 pandemic and the essential nature of the vaccines. ]]> 2021-05-07 01:41:14 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1500756803 Week 14 Reflection 5/7/2021 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1523631975 I wanted to write my final padlet post after finishing my group's final presentation. It breaks my heart to see this course come to an end. It's incredible to think about how much I've grown and learned over the course of this semester.
First and foremost, I thoroughly enjoyed working on the prototype with the majority of my group. Afroditi, Ellie, and Shayda were, without a doubt, the best group members I could have asked for. Making friends with people who share my interests and passions has been difficult while attending online school. Fortunately, this course changed that and made it feel like we were in person for the vast majority of the time.
It astounds me that our group was able to engage with the community and create a prototype for a vaccine clinic in Temple Hills, Maryland. When I first started looking into the non-profit leadership and social innovation minor, my involvement with the Mona Clinic was a deciding factor because I wanted to learn how to combine my passion for nonprofit leadership with my passion for working in the healthcare field. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, fueled my desire to learn how to better my community. This course unquestionably assisted me in learning that through the design thinking process and truly figuring out how to transform an idea into a prototype to better the community. It also enabled me to cultivate a more creative mindset, as evidenced by the infographic depicting the establishment of our vaccine clinic at the Mona Center.]]> 2021-05-14 04:11:10 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1523631975 Week 15 Reflection 5/14/21 sbglaros https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1529880167 I am so proud and happy how the final presentation and project turned out. I would always call my parents on Friday afternoons and tell them how much I loved this course. This led my mom to take off work to attend the final and my grandparents to listen in as well. They were beyond impressed what we were able to accomplish as undergraduates. 
For the project, it was great that we were able to work as a team to create the powerpoint as opposed to only working on the slides we were presenting. It was evident that all of the group members, aside from Shawn, wanting a prototype that could be implemented into the community and create sustainable change. 
I am hoping to continue this work and the design thinking process to make a change in PG County. I have been in contact with Mr. Slade to figure out how to spend my summer working to reach community immunity in Prince George's county. ]]> 2021-05-17 04:53:02 UTC https://padlet.com/sbglaros/53potrlgmr29k29c/wish/1529880167