My Job Shadowed Me Towards The Path Of Pharmacology

The flow of ions and interaction of compounds all makeup everyday life. Whether it is enzyme production to regulate the body or the rotation of polarized light to determine if the drug becomes a morning sickness cure or the cause of deformities, everything can be broken into smaller components. Understanding these mechanisms and how to perform synthesis are what orientated me towards the path of pharmacology. Towards the end of my senior year, I was awarded a scholarship to Everett community college. This opportunity allowed for me to explore various disciplines: sports medicine, business, psychology, and later pharmacy. Chemistry 140 was a correlating prerequisite for most non-science majors. However, this class is what opened my eyes to

Dr. Dooley was the new biology series teacher, and he highly encouraged me to job shadow. By taking this advice, I job shadowed at Matrx Pharmacy in Snohomish where various prescriptions are packed in neat containers based on administration time for assisted living homes. Most of the time I spend here was with the pharmacy technician, Marc. While talking about the importance of pharmaceuticals and pathways I could take, he said, “these pills are giving them their lives back. . . it’s because of it that they’re able to live normal lives. . .” That statement got me thinking about the thousands of debilitating diagnostics that can now be regulated through the reactions of these compounds. It was also during this time when I was in Organic Chemistry learning about Thalidomide and how the rotation of polarized light determined if it caused defects or cured morning sickness. The idea of simple changes having such large impacts and lab-based problem solving are what lead me to commit to a pre-pharmacy