Neuroscience Club Q & A
What is the Neuroscience Club? Does it aim to enter any competitions, or is it focused on education?
Neuroscience Club is one of the largest student-run groups at OHS, with well over 100 members, all of whom are passionate about the field of neuroscience. There’s a lot we do, but I’d say it’s mainly a hub for discussion — there are so many young, interested OHSers in one place.
Our goal is a mix of competition in education. Obviously, there’s the National Brain Bee, the largest annual neuroscience competition that our club prepares students for. We’ve had numerous national finalists over the years, and through our weekly meetings, we train OHSers to do their best at their local competitions. Otherwise, there’s also a focus on just getting more people interested in neuroscience — there’s been guest speaker meetings, career talks, and even research-dedicated topics for our club members.
What does a typical club meeting look like?
Nearly every Friday at 11am PST, one of our club leaders (or members!) hosts an interactive talk on a topic of their choice. Most of the ones that we have are from the BrainFacts Book, the main text used to prepare for the Brain Bee, but we aren’t afraid to deviate from those chapters at times. Meetings are almost always filled with discussion, the chat active with insights, and questions raised throughout.
What is the most interesting meeting that you or a previous member has ever hosted?
Recently, we had Dr. Harlan Bruner, a board-certified neurosurgeon, speak on his career experience as a doctor. A lot of us are interested in going into the medical field, so it’s immensely necessary for voices like his to be featured. It’s probably the biggest meeting we’ve had since the start of the year — a huge turnout even bringing in new members. His talk featured personal experience, career paths, med school/residency, and even work-life balance. For all of us at Neuroscience Club, it was certainly a standout meeting.
What is the best/worst thing about leading the Neuroscience Club?
One of the best parts of being a leader is seeing new people show interest in our club. This was especially present in the earlier parts of the semester, where so many people just emailed Dr. Vetter and I, asking how they could join. It really inspires me, the sheer amount of people at OHS interested in neuroscience. It’s one thing that makes me hopeful about the field’s future, and motivates me to continue leading.
I’d say one of the worst parts about leading Neuroscience Club is when members have conflicts where they can’t make our 11am time. I know my club members pretty well, so especially if they’re missing a topic they’re really interested in. In the case of time conflict, we’re pretty prompt on posting meeting recordings to accommodate for those students.
What are your future goals for the club?
I love this question — one of my future goals is definitely to bring back older trends we’ve had in past years. I’m aware that for neurodiversity, the club has previously done movie nights with the film Taare Zameen Par (one of my personal favorites). For the 2024-25 school year, I definitely hope to reinstate this, as it’s a great way to build community among club members. It’s also just an amazing movie.