areer CenLer (CC) WhaL drew you Lo Lhe fleld of pharmacy? Why do you wanL Lo be a harmaclsL?

Son nguyen (Sn) l knew l wanLed a career LhaL would flL my personallLy brlng me happlness and
provlde Lhe opporLunlLy Lo help people l knew Lhere were ways Lo help people ln Lhe healLh fleld
oLher Lhan pharmacy buL l llked chemlsLry so pharmacy made sense WhaL really aLLracLed me was
how lL flL my personallLy so well l donL llke belng around Loo many people A docLor for example
has Loo many people Lo lnLeracL wlLh all Lhe Llme As a pharmaclsL you geL alone Llme Lo do your
lndlvldual work Powever you can have lnLeracLlon wlLh employees and cusLomers Loo lL ls a nlce
mlx l also llke Lhe ldea LhaL people puL Lhelr LrusL ln you

CC WhaL Lype of experlence do you have relaLed Lo pharmacy?

Sn l worked aL LlephanL harmacy for a semesLer and a summer lL can be hard Lo geL a volunLeer
poslLlon ln a pharmacy AL LlephanL Lhey leL you acL as a clerk l answered phones Look prescrlpLlon
reflll lnformaLlon eLc 1here you are represenLlng Lhe communlLy and l llke LhaL ln general as a
pharmaclsL you are Lhe lasL one on Lhe llne lL ls all on you 1he paLlenL has already seen a docLor
been dlagnosed and glven a LreaLmenL plan lLs up Lo Lhe pharmaclsL Lo fulflll Lhe lasL and lmporLanL
sLep of geLLlng Lhe paLlenL Lhe medlclne Lhey need l llke Lhe LrusL and responslblllLy LhaL enLalls As
for oLher experlence l worked ln a research lab on campus (planL blo lab) ln LhaL poslLlon l was
glven a loL of lndependence

CurrenLly l work aL 1era 8lo1ech CorporaLlon as a lab Lechnlclan 1hey care abouL my educaLlon and
supporL my pursulL of a harmu

CC WhaL was Lhe mosL dlfflculL parL abouL applylng Lo harmacy school? WhaL was Lhe process llke
overall?
l would Lell oLhers noL Lo procrasLlnaLe [usL Lry lL and see whaL happens

Sn CeLLlng sLarLed was Lhe hardesL parL for me[usL geLLlng Lhe courage Lo go for lL 8ecause of
Lhls l dldnL even Lurn ln my appllcaLlon unLll november 1sL whlch ls laLe ln Lhe cycle Powever
forLunaLely l had a hlgh CA and ulLlmaLely was sLlll ranked as hlgh candldaLe

Lven Lhough l had Lhe hlgh CA l [usL assumed l wasnL good enough 8uL l flnally goL Lo Lhe polnL
where l reallzed l [usL had Lo Lry So l would Lell oLhers noL Lo procrasLlnaLe [usL Lry lL and see whaL
happens lf you donL Lry you wlll never know lf you would have made lL or noL

LasL summer afLer l spoke wlLh a Career CenLer counselor everyLhlng sLarLed falllng lnLo place l
reallzed LhaL applylng ouL of sLaLe as a back up plan wasnL necessary for me l flgured ouL who Lo
ask Lo wrlLe me leLLers of recommendaLlon as well

l recelved lnLervlews from uCSu uSC uCSl and uC l have a frlend who ls a currenL harmu
sLudenL aL uCSu and she gave me lnslghLs prlor Lo my lnLervlew uurlng my uCSu lnLervlew l
showed Lhem who l was as a person noL [usL a poLenLlal pharmaclsL

l goL lnLo uSC and uC unLll recenLly l had planned on golng Lo uSC buL everyLhlng changed when
l goL off Lhe walLllsL from uCSu (my #1 cholce) l had called Lhe uCSu Admlsslons offlce earller ln Lhe
summer and been Lold LhaL my chances of geLLlng off Lhe walLllsL were sllm 8uL l never gave up
hope

ln Lhe meanLlme Lhe researcher l currenLly work wlLh (whos wlfe ls my famlly docLor and also a
uCSu faculLy member) offered Lo wrlLe me an addlLlonal leLLer Lo submlL Lo uCSu and he wroLe a
leLLer Lo Lhe dean of Lhe school

ln Lhe end l was accepLed and l am very exclLed Lo be aLLendlng uCSu Lhls fall!

CC WhaL resources dld you use Lo help you apply for harmacy School?

Sn lor one l had menLors 1hese were Lwo frlends who aLLend uSCs School of harmacy Cne of
Lhem used Lo be Lhe head of volunLeers aL LlephanL harmacy

l also used Lhe Career CenLer Lhe resources were excellenL l used many onllne resources Cf course
Lhe besL resource ls always Lhe school (of harmacy) lLself[usL call Lhem lL can be lnLlmldaLlng Lo
call buL lL ls [usL parL of process

l also spoke wlLh Lhe harmacy Manager aL LlephanL harmacy she was a greaL resource l asked
her quesLlons every Llme l was Lhere and kepL a noLebook of whaL l learned Lveryday l wroLe
reflecLlons on my experlences Lhere Lo see whaL my real feellngs abouL Lhe pharmacy professlon
were

CC WhaL advlce do you have for currenL sLudenLs who are applylng Lo pharmacy school or are
conslderlng dolng so ln Lhe fuLure?
uonL psych yourself ouL 8e organlzed and prepared for Lhe process

Sn Make sure you wanL Lo go lnLo pharmacy before you apply Whlle belng a pharmaclsL mlghL noL
be Lhe [ob for Lhe resL of your llfe pursulng your harmu ls a blg commlLmenL lL ls besL Lo flnd ouL lf
lL sulLs you for now

keep ln mlnd LhaL anyLlme more school ls requlred lLs golng Lo be compeLlLlve Lo geL ln uonL psych
yourself ouL 8e organlzed and prepared for Lhe process l had folders on my compuLer for each
school l wanLed Lo apply Lo each folder conLalned all Lhe prereqs for LhaL parLlcular school and l
would check off classes as l Look Lhem CrganlzaLlon ls key so you donL mlss deadllnes

Also geL experlence Some of my frlends experlenced dlfflculL lnLervlews because Lhey lacked
pharmacyrelaLed experlence As far as lm concerned Lheres no reason Lo apply unless you have
experlence ln Lhe fleld 8e flexlble 1here are a number of opLlons you can pursue wlLh your harmu
!usL Lry ouL aL leasL one aspecL of Lhe fleld as a volunLeer or pald parL Llme lnLern/employee before
you apply ?ou have Lo Lake lL serlously golng lnLo Lhe fleld because people are golng Lo counL on you
for Lhelr healLh