I received a scholarship from the Allegany County Area Foundation in 2009 when I graduated from Bolivar-Richburg Central School. In the fall of 2009, I started classes at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, NY where I majored in biology. When I was in high school, my grandma suffered from cancer which she eventually passed away from. This was a very difficult time for my family during which we often consulted our local pharmacist regarding her very extensive medication regimen. The pharmacist provided my grandma and family with the best care and was always so patient and kind. Due to those great experiences my family had with that pharmacist, I knew that I wanted to become a pharmacist someday so I could do the same for others in need.
After completing two years of undergraduate classes and all of the pharmacy school prerequisites, I was accepted into the St. John Fisher College Wegmans School of Pharmacy. I am currently in my third year of the pharmacy school program and have one more year to go. I will be finishing up my fourth year of the pharmacy program after completing various pharmacy rotations in many different pharmacy areas including: community pharmacy (chain and independent settings), hospital pharmacy, ambulatory pharmacy, pharmacy management, and acute care/inpatient pharmacy. In May 2015, I am expected to graduate from the Wegmans School of Pharmacy with my Doctorate of Pharmacy degree.
In September 2015, I will marry Tyler Smith, another BRCS graduate, and we hope to settle down somewhere either in the Rochester or the Allegany County areas. I currently work for CVS pharmacy and I love the community pharmacy setting. I get to interact with all kinds of people when I am working and help them in ways varying from recommending an over-the-counter product to calling their prescribers to discuss their medication regimens. I plan to stay in the community pharmacy setting so that I am able to interact with my patients on a daily basis and be very involved in their health care management and experiences.
The scholarships that the Allegany County Area Foundation provides to students graduating from high school are so helpful for providing students with the means to attend college and pursue their dreams. College is very expensive and students are often discouraged by this fact. I have personally seen people change their education plans and decide not to pursue their dreams for the fear of the debt that they will assume from attending college. The assistance that these scholarships provide to students is one of the many important motivating factors for encouraging students to work hard and pursue their career goals. I am so thankful to the Allegany County Area Foundation and its supporters for the scholarship that I was awarded. This scholarship helped motivate me to work hard and pursue my long time goal of becoming a community pharmacist.
