First and foremost, welcome and congratulations to the new incoming classes!
By the time you are reading this, we will already be a few weeks into our Fall Quarter, and I hope everyone is doing well and adjusting to their new schedules. Professional school and stress seem to go together sometimes. Stress is a finicky thing that is a natural process, especially in professional school. I have found that many times, it is all about perspective and your outlook that either makes it a mountain to climb or a slow level walk. My goal is to offer some advice that I have found worked for me throughout my first year in Pharmacy school, and these can be applied to the other professions as well. Here are some tips that helped me get through my first year:
1. Be the best you can be!
I am a perfectionist and if you are anything like me, I need to be constantly reminded that it is ok to not be perfect. Professional school is a learning process. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to take a step back to reevaluate what is not working and finding new things or ideas that do work. You will make mistakes, but that is ok. It is part of the learning process. Learn from the mistakes and keep moving forward.
2. Personal Enjoyment!
Let’s be honest, studying for Pharmacy exams is a labor of love, but it is also incredibly time consuming. During the week, you will probably see me in library studying while I am not in class. While studying is important, so is your personal health. One thing that I have found to be both relaxing and stress relieving is gardening. Currently, I am growing dragon fruit and have 13 different varieties. I have found it to be a great stress reliever because it allows me to focus my attention on a different task other than school. It is also incredibly rewarding when you can visually see the fruits of your labor (pun intended) developing over time.
3. Eyes on the Prize!
Always remember to keep your eyes on the prize! By that, I mean keep your end goal alive. Yes, there will be times when you are tired and not feeling motivated to study, but you must push through it to succeed. In life, we have things that we do not necessarily want to do but know we should and do them. The same applies to our schooling and education. Also, do not let one poor test grade negatively impact your outlook on your goals. Treat it as a learning experience and keep pressing on. The road of professional school will sometimes be like climbing a steep mountain, but once you reach the summit, you can look back and reflect on the journey that got you to where you now stand!
