Pharmacy Dreams

Picturing the Dream

Earlier in July. Almost every fourth year student was running around, hurrying to the faculty room, kept going to and fro the guidance counselor and had the photocopying station up and running till late afternoon. The class’ atmosphere was quite hectic at that time, everyone’s mind was filled with thoughts of things they were doing and what they had to do after. But despite the business everyone had to deal with, one life-changing concept was perplexing us all, and that was COLLEGE. Our classmates and I kept calling over each other, asking “What course are you taking?”, “Which campus?”, “Is this course in-demand right now? How about in four or six years from now?” , “Can we go there together?”, “You’re gonna stay in an apartment then?” and the like. Some chose their course by sudden instinct, some chose what they liked but it didn’t really bother them at all, some took into account their parents’ advices, some were forced to take this or that course due to financial incapability, some considered proximity and transportation in their decision-making, some greatly considered the university’s reputation, some chose a course in a school where their family members has been attending since then, some didn’t care while some took the liberty of handling it on their own, and planned taking up the course that will herald a great future and grant them the picture of what they ought to be looking at five to six years from now.
When I ran through the UPCAT application papers, I’ve got my mind made up that I will have UP Manila as my first choice campus and take BS Industrial Pharmacy as my first choice, also having BS Pharmacy as my second choice. But honestly, I really wanted to study aeronautics and become an airline pilot. I didn’t get to study that course right away because it will cost us millions and millions worth of pesos and my family can never be up for that. The idea quite saddened me, but I thought : if I could get a job with a really good pay, I could still pursue my “aerial dream” afterwards. This possibility had me up and running again, so I asked my mom and searched the web for a course in UP that can help me bundle up some savings in the future. And there it was, BS Industrial Pharmacy. So technically, I chose the course by considering its capability in generating income in the future, especially abroad. And having my mom as a pharmacist is quite an added bonus. When I think of Industrial Pharmacy, drugs and selling them always comes to mind, even though it actually circulates more in the manufacturing industry. I reckon that the course will be tough, really tough. With a five-year duration of studying, graduating on time will be really hard to grasp. Based on the orientations of our professors in our first meeting with them, I’ve guessed that sitting back won’t ever be a smart choice. With a lot of pharmacy courses required to get a passing grade, I dread thinking about it. All I can do is to really try my best in persuading myself that you have to do this first, study that, forget about that movie, that game can wait, research on that and really try to get all passing grades or better.
Pharmacy. As what I’ve observed from my mom in the hospital she’s working at, the names of each and every medicine are like the letters of the alphabet to her. She doesn’t have this “thinking time” in where to get that capsule, this pill, the correct color of the requested dextrose and a lot more. I perceive Pharmacy as a profession that sells drugs, and it’s never an easy job with innumerable medicines out on the market nowadays. I saw my mom’s books and they were like five inches thick, and to think they didn’t have any access to internet back then, they always had to hit the books and have their hands worn out with all the writing they had to do. To me, a pharmacist is someone who had a rough time in studying and accomplishing their course. Memorization is no joke especially when you consider almost everyone’s health and welfare while doing so. It’s like you’re taking care of them firsthand in the form of medication. When I become one, hopefully in five or six years from now, I’ll get to fulfill my obligation to the RSA and get to work abroad. I would still like to myself as an airline pilot in the future. But becoming an industrial pharmacist “slash” airline pilot would be definitely splendid, and I’d like that to happen as much as possible. I would have pictures of wearing white dainty lab gowns gripping beakers, test tubes or doing titrations and such. I see myself going in and out of a drug company like Unilab or Pfizer and looking rather occupied all the time. I also envision the future “me” to be quite attached to academe research and interested in all sorts of innovations associated with words “cure” and “health”. I also see myself tending to my parents’ needs and they need not to work anymore, rather they just spend their golden years in a small vacation house near our beach and merrily reminisce their past years. Before the reaching the age of 30, I aim to travel all over the globe and have my future passport filled with stamps from traveling almost anywhere. I’d like to see Egypt and of course the Amazon River. Go to Greece, visit temples and have a look at historical and mythical relics of theirs. There’s just so much about the world that your life span is still not enough to let yourself indulge in it all. I’d want each and every person who has helped me to be given a treat, even just get a small token from me. Heck even gifts are not enough to compensate for what they’ve done for me. I’d like to express them my endless gratitude in believing, for the never-ending support that helped a lot all the way through. Despite my weaknesses, back-up was always 24/7.
Talking about weakness, my major dilemma this college is my slow absorption or poor understanding in Mathematics. Since high school, this subject has always dragged me way down, and I just really hope I can keep it from pulling me down to rock-bottom. Another drawback that I have is being vulnerable to homesickness which sometimes affects my studying habits. Well, that is as of now, like everyone I know says, that always happens at first and I’ll definitely get used to it. Another also is that I easily falter sometimes because of some traumatic academic experiences starting from elementary up to high school. It has haunted and affected me since then. Despite my drawbacks, I have my strengths that I’m quite proud of. I’m good at Biology and Physics and I really love both subjects. I’m a writer and was an editor-in-chief, I’m very good at English and History because I’ve noticed and I really am. Not to brag of course. Another strength of mine is I tend to get along with others because I’m often able to crack witty jokes and punch lines, I tend to be soft-hearted all the time, especially to those who are quite challenged in life. For the sake of somewhat an impossible dream, I’m willing to dedicate all my time to studying and coping up to academic requirements. I’m willing to endure the suffocating feeling of homesickness and being far from almost everyone I love and everything I love to do. I’m willing to sacrifice leisure and having an easy life for the idea of having even a much better life in the future. Nothing beats a family in being the inspiration of studying and finishing a course. This endeavor of mine is all for them back home and everyone who’s helping me here in my stay. Someday, I will definitely repay them back a hundred-fold. This is for my dad who’s enduring homesickness that’s much worse than mine here, all those months away from home definitely gives him such a hard time, and I understand that really clearly now. It’s like I’m on his shoes, and it’s really tough and painful. This is for my mom, who’s helping me every step of the way, trying her best in making me feel closer to home every day. Even though she has a lot of other things to attend to, I don’t feel like I’m left out even though I’m miles away from her and that’s because she does everything that she can to make me feel I’m with them, and assuring me that they’ll all be with me every step of the way. This is for my family. This is for my dream. This is for the future. This is for a better life.