黑豹的轮廓是Q&A interviews that highlight Panthers of all stripes -- students, 教师, 工作人员, 明矾, board members and anyone else in the campus community.
Ellis Simerly is a native South Carolinian in his last year of the pharmacy doctoral program at ACPHS. 在他在校期间, he has been involved in many campus activities, including the 校园 Activities Programming Board, Student Pharmacists Society of the State of New York, National Community Pharmacists Association, Pinky Swear套装, 通勤学生社团, Phi Lamba Sigma and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. He says his involvement has made him the leader that he has become, and he encourages other students to be actively engaged on campus.
How did you choose to come to ACPHS?
我是来参加参观日的. 我只是觉得很自在. 我喜欢校园社区.
I wanted a school where I wasn't a number. I wanted my 教师 to know who I was. I wanted to know the people in my class. 我记得在旅行的时候, the tour guide would run into 教师, and t嘿 would greet each other by name. And t嘿 would ask, “How’s your mom?——比如非常私人的事情. And students would interact with each other. 这很像一个家庭.
You’re a proponent of being involved on campus. 你最初是怎么开始的?
I knew early on that pharmacy was much more than counting pills at a retail chain. And I knew the best way to learn more about those other possibilities would be through the professional organizations on campus. So, 在我的第一年, 下课后, I would stay in the room if a meeting was being held and just listen. I strategically put myself into situations to find out what I liked.
我总是告诉一年级的学生, when I worked in 招生 and I would do tours, 这不是合同. You could go to a meeting, introduce yourself, grab a free bagel and sit down, and then leave. Nobody's going to mind if you don't come back.
How would you describe the value of campus involvement?
这是向我们宣讲的, 从第一年开始, especially by the Center for Student Success, that you have to take a step back from your studies. You have to put yourself in the mindset of, I am getting an accelerated doctorate degree; there are going to be challenges that come along with that but it is okay for me to have fun and take care of myself. A fun fact I learned was statistically, the students who are more involved actually do better. 他们更善于管理时间. T嘿're better at figuring out what motivates them.
这对我来说是真的. The more involved I got, the better I performed all around. 我会安排早餐, 午餐, 晚餐, 研究, 淋浴, 休息时间, 你说出来的——我都不记得了. Not to say that's everyone's way but being very involved really helped me to organize myself.
What activities ended up interesting you?
The biggest thing was probably legislation. I'm from South Carolina, I don't know anything about New York State laws. So, I wanted to dip my toe into it. 多亏了我的朋友瑞秋, I got involved in SPSSNY – the Student Pharmacists Society of the State of New York. From there, I learn what goes into policy, legislation, lobbying. I found that fascinating and very rewarding because laws affect, and can help, everyone.
I want to do something with that in my career in pharmacy administration. 我对政策感兴趣, 程序, 预算, anything from behind the scenes that can help patients on a large scale.
Which came first, your career interest or the involvement?
我首先参与了SPSSNY. My friend Rachel was involved, and she told me t嘿 needed a treasurer. I was like, sure, I'm good with money. And then the more I went to the meetings, the more interesting it got to me. I really enjoy going to the Capitol and working with (明矾 and state Assemblyman) John McDonald – he is a trained pharmacist in a legislative position. That really sparked an interest in me.
I did not have, initially, the desire of doing pharmacy administration. I came to pharmacy school wanting to be a hospital pharmacist.
You are also executive director of the 校园 Activities Programming Board. 给我们讲讲吧.
From the time you come through orientation, you start seeing emails from the 校园 Activities Programming Board; these are the people putting on these events for the entire campus that make it feel like home. On our campus, it can be difficult to find balance between academics and self-care. 然而, 通过校园项目, CAPB provides students with a break to have fun and connect with other students. I think that balance, honestly, is the key to life.
What would you say to the first-year student who may be hesitant to join a campus group?
You can take the first step from the comfort of your living space. 登录 参与 看看有没有你感兴趣的东西. Take it slow; you don't have to go to every single meeting during common hour. Maybe you can nudge your roommate and be like, 嘿, 我对做这件事很感兴趣, 你觉得呢?? After all, t嘿 may even have free food.
相信自己. You’re going to know what you like. And don't feel obligated to keep doing something you don't like.
你的选择造就了你.