Advice for High School Students

My name is Lynne, and I am a P1 at PCSP.  To all those high school students who are pondering what to do in their future, this is for you.  High school is an important time in your life which most students do not realize.  There are so many important decisions that have to be made during that time, such as going to college or starting a new job.  If one decides to go to college, more difficult decisions have to be made.  Which college should you attend?  What should you major in?  When I was a junior in high school, I began my first job as a clerk in an independent pharmacy.  While working there I had the opportunity to observe and learn the roles of a pharmacist and pharmacy technicians.  After a week of working there, I fell in love with the environment of a pharmacy; I enjoyed interacting with patients, learning about medications, and helping others in the community.  Working in the pharmacy when I was 16 years old changed my life.  Who knew that starting as a clerk would lead to becoming a technician and intern, and eventually a career as a pharmacist?  The best advice I can give any young student is if you are even slightly interested in pursuing a career as a pharmacist, go out and search for opportunities to work in a pharmacy or become an intern.  It is extremely important to be familiar with pharmacy as a career before starting pharmacy school. 

When choosing a college that best fits you, it is important to look at colleges that offer the appropriate prerequisites.  There are numerous colleges/universities that offer classes for pharmacy school, including Presbyterian College.  I cannot emphasize enough the importance of starting the process for pharmacy school early.  There is so much to do and time seems to fly.  I would strongly recommend talking to your advisor so he/she can guide you further in starting this process.  Good luck!!

Community Service is Fun!

Here at PCSP, we are required to do pharmacy and non-pharmacy related community service every year. At first I was scared that I wouldn’t have time to get all of my hours completed since we have to have five pharmacy-related hours and one non-pharmacy hour each year. I quickly found out that it’s not only easy to get all of your hours but it’s also tons of fun.

This year, my non-pharmacy related community service was done for Happy Wheels charity. This charity donates toys to sick children in hospitals around the country. And no, I did not donate money or toys or even time with children for this community service. I paid a small fee to run in a 5K in Columbia. I was not excited about the running part since that’s not really my thing, but I was excited that during the entire race you get pelted with colors! It was so much fun running and getting messy with my friends for such an amazing cause. Plus, I was really surprised that I finished the whole race in less than an hour. It really showed me that community service can be fulfilling, exciting, and showed me a lot about myself that I didn’t know before.

A few of my pharmacy related opportunities this year were through an organization that I joined called National Community Pharmacists Association or NCPA. I helped to run an information booth at the Greenwood County Fair that gave people resources to learn about flu shots, blood pressure, etc. I also helped to recruit people and collect samples for our annual bone marrow drive. This was particularly interesting because I never really knew much about bone marrow transplants before this event. I ended up getting swabbed myself and entering my DNA into the national database.

Community service is a very important part of the learning experience here at PCSP, and I am very glad that it is. I love learning new things about the community and pharmacy while helping others and having fun. There are so many opportunities each year for many different areas of interest, so it isn’t hard to find something that you will enjoy. I will continue to do community service for the rest of my career, and I owe every bit of that motivation to my school and my school family. Thanks PCSP! 

-Written By Courtney, P1 student

Living Options While Learning at PCSP

Hello everyone!  My name is Marija, and I am a P2 student at PCSP.  From the first time when I visited PCSP during the Open House to now, when I am half way finished with my second year, I still love everything about this school.  As previously mentioned by my fellow classmates, this school has a lot to offer to help mold us into the best future pharmacists.  We get to learn using top notch technology, integrated curriculum, and the best professors a student can ask for.  In addition, the sense of community and togetherness at PCSP is incredible.  These were some of the aspects that were important to me when I was deciding on which school to apply to.  There are many other aspects to consider, including where one chooses to live in relation to where PCSP is located.  I personally live in Greenville, South Carolina, fifty miles north of Clinton.  Although the drive from Greenville to Clinton is a long distance, I carpool with two fellow classmates to keep fuel costs down and the drive more enjoyable.  Rather than moving to Clinton, I chose to remain in Greenville in order to live close to home and enjoy the charm that Greenville offers.  Many of my student colleagues live in cities closer to PC, including Simpsonville, Laurens, and Clinton. The city you choose to live in determines the length of a commute you will drive to and from school.  For example, the family-friendly city of Simpsonville is nearly a 30 minute drive, whereas Laurens is more of a 15 minute drive.  Clinton, in which PCSP is centrally located, offers students the opportunity to either walk to school or drive a very short distance.  Although the prospect of finding a home before your first year of pharmacy school can be stressful, a facebook housing page was created for future PC pharmacy students to inquire about buying and renting, as well as roommate opportunities.  As you can see, there are many options to choose from when deciding where to live, but you can be certain that your PC family will help make that transition as smooth as possible.

Go Have Some Fun

My name is Candice, and I’m currently a P2 at PCSP.  I know some of you are wondering if I have a life outside of school.  Though school is the most important reason you will be coming to Clinton, SC, you have to give yourself a break, physically and mentally before you go crazy!!!!

So what is there to do in the small town of Clinton?  Not much, but you are in driving distances to Columbia, Greenville, Gaffney, Spartanburg, Greenwood, and surrounding areas. There is SHOPPING (my favorite stress reliever) at the different malls and shopping centers.  There are also a variety of restaurants for you and your soon to be new friends to go and dine, especially Chick-fil-A in Simpsonville.  There’s also Frankie’s Fun Park to have a day full of games and bowling alleys.

So don’t let the town be the deciding factor of whether or not to go to Presbyterian College School of Pharmacy.  This school has a great family environment away from home, as well as a great faculty and staff whose main goal is to see you succeed.  So with that being said, I hope you decide to make PCSP your home away from home. 

Pharmacy Student Ambassador: Offering a Student Perspective

In the semester of Fall 2012 as a second year student, I was given the opportunity to become an ambassador.  It was an eye opening experience because I was able to go out and talk to prospective pharmacy students about PC School of Pharmacy.  One of the events I partook in was recruiting at USC Upstate and was accompanied by Marija (another second year pharmacy student here).  We met a variety of students who all had the same ambition to become a Pharmacist.  As an ambassador, I was able to answer their questions with up-to-date information about admissions and other topics.  One of the most attention-grabbing aspects the prospective students liked was that we could give them details about the school from a student view. Recruiting at USC Upstate was a success because a few of the students we talked to said they will be applying within the next year.  

Written by Bartou, P2 student