Life Off-Label

For those who haven’t stalked me on Facebook lately because we aren’t friends or you have a life, I just started my first year of pharmacy school. I really like it here and have already made some awesome friends. It’s a great program that will give me a lot of opportunities, but I wish the cost of being an out-of-state student didn’t force me to take out enough loans to fund a NASA mission.

My decision to pursue pharmacy was not some sob-story about how my grandmother told me on her deathbed that she always wanted me to be a pharmacist or that it’s something I was passionate about since before I had pubic hair. Actually, if you asked me two years ago, I would have said, “Pharmacy? Hell no, I’m applying to PA school!” Life is weird like that. I started out pre-pharmacy, but like most people in college I changed my mind. At that point, my exposure to pharmacy was seeing the crazy over-worked pharmacist at Walgreens… not exactly an image to inspire the youth of tomorrow. However, when I started working as a pharmacy tech, working in a hospital showed me something much different. I saw the pharmacists utilize a lot more of their clinical knowledge, making them a vital asset to the healthcare team. I could not only see myself enjoying this as a career, but finding a lot of fulfillment from it. I decided to apply to pharmacy school that year. I took the PCAT, applied to a few schools, and got my acceptance!

During orientation, it was pounded into our heads that we’re about to make a dramatic change from a regular student to a professional. Before we started class, we had a ceremony where we formally put on our white lab coats, and that was supposed to signify this transition. I feel that it’s just the beginning, and my experiences over the next four years will slowly mold me into a true professional. I’m definitely a small fish in a big pond, where the expectations are higher than ever before, and there will undoubtedly be moments where I don’t feel like I can’t live up to them. Writing allows us to take a powerful snapshot of our emotions at a particular moment, and what better way to document such a journey than with my own blog?

Plus, let’s be honest, blogging is one of my favorite ways to put off studying.