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Looking Back

Acupuncture has been in my life since it had treated me from my skin disease, eczema.

The only knowledge I had about acupuncture was that it involved needles that would penetrate

the skin. Everything seemed very skeptical to me, but now I am thankful that I was introduced to

it. Acupuncture is a very broad topic. Not much is known about it and there is limited research.

However, over the last decade, many physicians and medical professionals recommend trying

acupuncture. This was eye-opening because acupuncture was known to be a placebo effect or a

sham.

My project was to create a clay model ear. I chose to create an ear because my mentor,

Youngsu Lyn, said it was difficult to pinpoint one thing I could do. At first, I wanted to use

needles and insert them on the skin. Unfortunately, this requires tremendous amounts of school

and practice. In order to at least teach myself something, I created the ear and learned more about

auricular acupuncture. If I was able to do the project differently I would have tried to invest more

time in learning more points in the ear. There are more than 500 points in the ear and using

different combinations you can treat the body and the mind.

I was happy with my outcome of the ear and I would do it the same. It was fun and

enjoyable. However, because I am very poor at arts and crafts, it took me a while to mold it into

a same of the ear. I was surprised that it took me seven tries to get the final product. That was

when I knew that the ear was not going to get better than what I had. Throughout this entire

journey, my mentor was very helpful. I met him two times per week and he tried to explain the

basics of acupuncture. It was too much information and he made it easier to learn and understand
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the material. I was and still am extremely grateful for everything that he has done to make this

possible.

Acupuncture showed me a new side of the medical world. Without using any medication,

it relies on the fact that it is a holistic treatment. There was so much to learn and it has definitely

gave light to new fields in the medical field. Also, my confidence in myself has grown because

my eczema is almost fully gone. I am very grateful for the experience I have received from this

project.