Raheem Khadour ’25
By Raheem Khadour ’25
When I was 15 years old, I discovered my passion for medicine while visiting a cardiologist to check my fast heartbeat. When I was 16, I left home to finish high school at Mahindra United World College India. Through the two years in India, my heart became accustomed to being in nature and going on hikes with the people I love. I wanted those experiences to continue in college so I looked for a place that would give me a similar feeling. Luckily, I found COA, a college that lets me study pre-med and biomedical sciences in a small community on an island surrounded by both the Atlantic and a fabulous national park called Acadia. I am here now, and my heart is back to normal. My heart began to slow as I got to spend my time hiking, kayaking, shadowing heart surgeries, working in a clinic, taking diverse subjects in science, and studying heart failure at Jackson Laboratory. COA gives me all of this and I get to be part of a beautiful community on MDI.
History of Filmmaking II (1946-Present)
I have a friend who is one of the most brilliant filmmakers I have met; he always got me to watch movies, but somehow whenever we finished watching a movie, his analysis of the film was completely different from mine. It was as if we had observed two different movies. He got me interested in learning the various ways of looking at cinematic work and how filmmaking has evolved. COA lecturer Colin Capers ’95, MPhil ’09 offered this fascinating course last spring and I immediately signed up for it. Colin introduced me to a whole new world of movies. We started with films that were made in 1946 and kept going until the most recent movies that have been produced. We watched movies together and discussed them in class. We read multiple articles and book chapters to understand film evolution throughout time and the role films played in the time they were made. My final project was to analyze three Syrian films from different times between 1970 and 2003 with my friend from Syria through a podcast format.
Hydro Politics in a Thirsty World
Ken Cline almost made me consider switching my main area of interest from medicine to environmental law and politics through this fantastic course. We spent a term discovering the politics involving watercourses worldwide and how water plays a significant role in today’s politics. The class left me scared but curious, afraid of future accessibility to water, but curious to discover how environmental law and the political world change as the issues we face evolve. Our various readings focused on rivers around the world and the political challenges states have faced in sharing different watercourses. We ended the term with a rafting trip on the Penobscot River to consider the politics involving one of the rivers around us.
Origins: History, Genetics, and Memory
Two classes a week were not enough for me with the Origins course. A course like Origins is one of the main reasons I came to COA, to learn science in a creative way. Biology professor Helen Hess and history professor Todd Little-Siebold taught us about genetics, evolution, and family research history through an approach that combined all these areas of knowledge to introduce the origin of our species and what shaped us into the species we are today. I only thought of how researching my family history impacted how I view genetics and the evolution of Homosapiens once I worked on my final project for this class. My project aimed to study a genetic disorder called Familial Mediterranean Fever that spreads within my family by looking at my family history. Our lecture time was mainly used to discuss multiple topics regarding our origins and to share family stories attached to each of us.
Molecular Genetic Workshop
I spent one week during my spring break in an annual workshop organized for COA students by MDI Biological Laboratory. We learned about genetic engineering, gene editing, microscope handling, and general biological research. We applied theoretical knowledge in the field and gained hands-on experience in using the CRISPR technique in research on worms. With this workshop, I was able to qualify for the academic year fellowship program at Jackson laboratory to gain further knowledge and experience in biomedical research.
