You Gotta Start Somewhere

Firstly, let me apologize that it has been so long since my last post. I know my followers are few and far between at this point in time, but I apologize to those few nonetheless. Before Christmas Break I was bogged down with end-of-the-semester stress. I've been on break since December 13th, but I have been mostly away from my computer not doing a darn thing. It's been so good to be home and happy, and I've been working on the beginning of plans to move home in May. We also submitted preferences for our other rotations over the break. I'm hoping I will get Critical Care (working with ICU patients), Medicine (rounding with a medicine team so I'll get a lot of patient interaction which is what I'm passionate about), and Nutritional Support (which will benefit me even if I don't work in a hospital ever again). I'll keep you posted on what I get as soon as I find out.

Today I received an e-mail from the people in charge of Mercer on Mission confirming that I have been chosen to go on the mission. The first notification I got was from the woman in charge of my rotations telling us that we were Mercer Atlanta's choices for pharmacy students and that Mercer Macon would pretty much approve their choices as long as nothing went horribly wrong. Well, nothing went horribly wrong, and I am going. The e-mail I got today included a study abroad data form, a deposit payment ticket, and a student travel checklist of things that must be completed before we leave the country. I also went to the post office today to start getting things ready to apply for my passport and will hopefully finish the application process tomorrow.

Q&A Time!

Q: Tell me about your first pharmacy job.

A: My first and current job is pretty much what I hope to do for the rest of my life. I started working for my boss, J, around the time I started college. At that time, he owned 3 independent pharmacies in the Columbus area. I started working at the pharmacy that was right next to the government housing facilities ("the projects" is what they're called just about everywhere). People think that the area is a scary place, but my customers were more crazy-off-their-rockers than scary. I absolutely adored the job because you just never knew what to expect to happen on any given day. My very favorite thing about the job though was that I was able to get to know my patients and help the people who REALLY need it. I love taking care of people that others either look down on or may overlook all together; it's the most rewarding thing in the world. Watching our customers interact with our pharmacist just confirmed that I want to be in independent pharmacy for as long as possible; those people trust our pharmacists more than they trust their doctors. Some of our customers would bring us lunch or snacks or vegetables from their home gardens - they would stop by just to say hello or to update J on their latest hunting excursion. Unfortunately, this pharmacy eventually closed because my boss owned another pharmacy just up the road. I was transferred to working at that pharmacy and love it just as much. We were able to retain all of our customers, and now there's a fun gift shop for me to peruse when I have some downtime. (Don't tell J!! :P)
In August/September of 2009, we suffered a HUGE loss - our building that had stood in the same spot for what seems like forever was burnt to the ground. I was away at school at the time, and my heart broke into a thousand pieces for J, my co-workers, and most importantly our patients. They reopened in a temporary location practically next door to the old building within a week, and out of the tragedy we realized just how special our situation is. Our patients were so understanding, and you know you have a good thing going when your patients are just as broken-hearted about your tragedy as you are. I was able to work at the temporary location this summer, and it was... one heck of an experience. The building was TINY, and with 8-10 people working at a time we got to know each other VERY well. A bigger, better, even more beautiful store was in the process of being built in the original stores' location, but it didn't open until the week after I had to leave to go back to school (in late August 2010). I only worked in the temp store for 2 months, but everyone else had a solid year in the tiny building, and they were absolutely thrilled to tell the little thing goodbye. A lot of good came out of the fire in terms of the support we received and the amazing new building we have now, but I know it was a rough time - especially for J. I can't even begin to imagine the emotional impact the entire situation had on him, but he kept an amazingly positive attitude throughout the experience.
I know this is a long post, but I absolutely can't end it without saying how special my boss is to me. He has done and would do anything in the world for me. I tried to work for someone else this summer and just couldn't do it for longer than a month - THAT is how good of a person and boss J is. He knows every patient by name, the name of their children, the name of their pets, what was going on the last time they came into the pharmacy, etc. etc. etc. Equally as important, he goes way, way above and beyond on behalf of these patients, and I think that's one of the most important things a pharmacist can do. If there is a way to help them, J will find it. If there's not a way to help them, chances are he'll make one somehow or another. One of the things I learned to appreciate about him when I had my other job this summer is that he may get grumpy sometimes, he may hurt your feelings, and he may even make you cry every now and then if you're super sensitive, but he will ALWAYS tell you he's sorry with his deepest sincerity and a hug. His employees are part of his family, and I think a boss who makes you feel like that is a boss who is doing his job well.

That's all for now, folks. Sorry again about the absence and the long post. Hopefully once school starts back on Monday I'll be able to update more regularly.

Thanks for reading. It really means the world to me.
<3 <3 <3
Kati

An introduction

I've been trying to think of the best starting point for this blog, and I'm having a really hard time doing so. There's so much background that should probably be included, but there's also so much to be said about the here & now, and I don't want my first real post to be a million miles long. I think I'll just have to split the introduction posts between a few days.

"Let's start at the very beginning - a very good place to start..."

Q: Why do you want to be a pharmacist in the first place?

A: I can't tell you how many times I've been asked that since I made the decision 5 or so years ago. I quite literally woke up one day and decided I'd be a pharmacist. For my entire life I've only been "above and beyond good" at one thing - being smart. My sister is artsy, my friends have musical talent, some of my other friends were just born to teach - I'm smart, and I understand math and science. I truly believe we should each recognize the talents we're given and do something with them lest we're denying the world of something great. My biggest passion is people - specifically, making a difference in people's lives. Combine my passion for people with the scientific brain I've been given, and the medical field is quite obviously the place for me. I knew I couldn't be a doctor or nurse because I don't deal well with blood and other nasty stuff. I had absolutely no desire to do all of my work inside people's nasty mouths all day. Pharmacy was the next thing that came to mind, thus it's what stuck. Then I realized pharmacists make a ridiculous amount of money, and that was a plus because it will completely change my life. I wouldn't say I have ever been poor because I've seen poor, and poor breaks my heart. I was a blessed child. My parents never let us want for much of anything, but we were introduced to "money problems" at far too young an age. Knowing that we "didn't have enough money" made me feel bad for everything I ever wanted or needed to ask for. Scholarships and loans (I like to think of loans as "future Kati" - thank you, future me) have paid my way through college and grad school. The money I will make isn't #1 on my list, but it will allow me to live the life I've always dreamed of - not an extravagant life but one without "money troubles" where I feel secure and can travel or have season tickets to the Fox Theatre and the Falcon's games if I so choose. More importantly, I'll be able to donate to organizations such as Teen Advisors (to be introduced in the near future) that have donated to my life and growth and have helped make me the person you know today. Add all of those reasons together + many, many more, and that's why I want to be a pharmacist.

In my next post, I'll tell you about my first (and still current) job in a pharmacy. Also to come, Teen Advisors, Jonathan Hatcher, Mercer CoPHS, and finally the mission. If you guys have any questions that you want to know the answer to, I'll be more than happy to answer each and every one of them. In fact, they'd be very helpful to the direction of this blog. (So leave some comments with questions, pleeease!!)

Thank you so much for reading!
<3 <3 <3

This is the start of something amazing..

The beginning of an end
The beginning of a beginning
Another milestone in my favorite chapter of my life thus far

I've started this blog because I found out yesterday (12/01/10) that I got a spot on the medical mission rotation I applied for only a month ago, and I want to document my experience.

This first blog won't be much of anything; really I'm just posting it so that I can test out the blogger design settings and get everything looking the way I want it to before I share the link to my blog with the internet world. With my next blog I hope to start sharing everything - what I'm thinking, how I'm feeling, new and old information and updates about the mission, etc. - as it comes up. I intend to share, at the very least, some highlights of the essay that I submitted with my application; I hope it will help you understand a little more about the way my heart thinks, how much this trip means to me, and some of the who's, what's and when's of all the why's. I'm sure there will be a few posts that don't pertain to the mission in any way at all, but I hope that'll be okay with all of you. :)

Hopefully I can, more often than not, leave you with a few quotes that are relevant to the mood of the blog post. I like quotes.

"What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from."
-T.S. Eliot

"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth: not going all the way and not starting."
-Buddha
[I find this one is especially appropriate since, chances are, I'll be going to a country whose major religion by a whopping 96% majority is Buddhism.]

<3 <3 <3
Kati