Hi! My name is Nicole. I am a 2nd year pharmacy student at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy – USC Campus. I am currently $60,000+ in tuition loans debt with two and a half more years of pharmacy school left. The #GFMScholarship and any donations would definitely help take the edge off a bit.
My story is a bit different than others. I am currently 28 years old and was born and raised in Sumter, South Carolina. I was mostly raised by my grandparents and my mother in a low income family (borderline poverty at times). I always excelled academically and was told at a young age it is what is needed to make more out of my life than what I was used to. I always knew I was destined for college, but was never sure of what I was truly passionate about. With that, I began taking business classes at my hometown campus because it was close to home. It was what I thought was a promising field and I could use the extra money from my scholarships to help out with bills at home. Before I knew it I had my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Throughout college, I worked retail jobs to make ends meet and was offered a management position in a clothing retail store (one of the only/best offers I had gotten without “experience” in the field of business management). $38,000 salary and working up to 80 hours a week is what I was worth at this point. I knew there had to be more after all of this hard work I put into education my entire life.
I met one of my greatest friends, Tiffany, in business school. We graduated with the same expectations and were both sorely let down at our prospects after finishing business school. We knew we were worth more than what was being given to us.
After many nights laughing, crying, and trying to figure out what we wanted to do with our lives, Tiffany and I began thinking that we could survive in the medical field (I truly never thought I was capable of pursuing a higher education in such a prestigious field, but Tiffany pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone). We began researching and thought that pharmacy was a great choice to look into!
As I did my research in pharmacy, I began to think of all of the reasons why I would be a great pharmacists (besides the job stability and great pay). My thoughts were as follows: I love to help people and make them happy, I would love to help my family (especially my grandparents) understand the medications they were taking, I want to be a helpful asset to my community, I was always good at math and sciences and I wouldn’t have to deal with the messiness that comes with being a physician or nurse haha!
Look at me now. I’ve just started my 2nd year and on my way to becoming a Doctor of Pharmacy. If anyone would have told me this is what I would be doing 10 years ago, I would have laughed! I absolutely love love love the field of pharmacy. I especially love working in the community and getting to know my patients. I also love the diversity in the field and what I could do with the clinical and research skills I have developed. I am blessed to have found my passion, my calling in life.
Some may say why risk all of that money to go back to school? Why put yourself in so much debt? It is true. This was a leap of faith when I began. But if and when you find something you are destined for in life, you will use any means to make that dream come true.
I want to dedicate my accomplishments thus far to my friend, Tiffany. She didn’t make it into pharmacy school, but she’s making a great life for herself and she is very happy. Thank you for pushing me to be the best I can be. Now, I’m going to take it all the way to the top for us!
Lastly, thank you for taking the time to read my story. I must raise money from 10 unique donors to be eligible for the #GFMScholarship. Any little bit helps! Thanks again!
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