As a young Armenian Iranian woman, I was taught that my grandparents were incredibly special. I adored them, especially my grandmother, and when she became ill, I tried my best to nurse her back to health. I was fascinated about the difference that medicines made in her health; therefore, at the age of sixteen, I fell in love with medicine, the very concept of saving lives and our possibilities as a human society for minimizing death and suffering through science.
I see my caring for my grandmother, helping her with her medications, and reading about her treatment, as my first taste of preparation for a career in pharmacy. My grandmother's illness helped me to focus and dream about a career in health care, and I see it as the foundation for my dedication to pharmacy. My dedication to pharmacy is driven by my respect and passion for the power of medicine to cure.
Fascinated with the power of science and medicine, I began my exploration of the field of pharmacy. During both high school and college, I took many science classes to provide me with an adequate background to succeed in pharmacy school. The courses that I completed in math, biology, organic chemistry, and biochemistry especially contributed to my interest in pursuing a graduate degree in pharmacy. Majoring in pharmacological chemistry at XXXX allowed me to take particularly challenging science courses and gain a deeper understanding of the fields most related to pharmacy.
Studying at XXXX also gave me the invaluable opportunity to work at Dr. XXXX's lab at the XXXX Research Institute for one year and participate in an internship under the supervision of Dr. Christine XXXX last summer, where I had the chance to design the vectors for expressing Rab-40 proteins, helping us to better understand the misfolding of proteins that cause diseases such as cystic fibrosis, type 2 diabetes, and amyloidosis; this also provided me with an in-depth look at the enormous effort that is put into the making of a new drug.
I have taken full advantage of the chance to work closely with post-doctoral students and this has helped me to appreciate the importance of research more fully in the health care sciences, especially drug development and drug targeting. My hands-on involvement in research has helped me to achieve an extremely positive attitude towards science and the confidence and self-esteem which will help me to become an excellent and highly professional pharmacist because of your program.
I have long been involved in extracurricular activities that have enabled me to become more open-minded and professional. I have worked with Alpha Gamma Sigma, the Persian and Armenian student organizations at XXXX Community College (XXX) and the Biological Sciences Student Organization, Pre-pharmacy Society, as well as HOPE at XXXX. I was a supplemental instructional leader for calculus at XXXX and a calculus tutor, also at XXXX. I have also served as a volunteer at local convalescent homes. In Iran, I was a Girl Scout leader and I have also served as a volunteer at local convalescent homes.
In Iran, I was a Girl Scout leader for six years and organized field trips and camping for girls from seven to thirteen. Currently, I am involved in a Global Citizen leadership program where we struggle to awaken an interest in international affairs among international students and other immigrants here in San Diego. All these activities have helped me to become an excellent communicator which will serve me well as a pharmacist.
I have attended numerous pharmacy related seminars that helped me to broaden the horizons of my understanding of the field from an interdisciplinary perspective, giving me the chance to interact with scientists and pharmacists working on drug development. I am extremely excited about the future of the pharmaceutical industry, and I believe that scientific discoveries of the not-too-distant future will help us to find cures for Multiple sclerosis (M.S), HIV, and other deliberating diseases. This makes me especially proud of my goal to become a pharmacist. My strong interest in science and passion for improving the quality of life of my community are my primary motivations for wanting to attend the PharmD Program at USC.
During my preschool years, my grandmother would tell me that there was nothing in the dark that did not exist in the light. Following her bypass surgery, as I nursed her back to health, I would think about that light and dream of a career in medicine helping people to stave off the ravages of disease and death, seeing light at the end of the tunnel. I look forward to many decades of honoring my grandmother through the care of others, as she always taught me to do.
I want to thank you for your consideration of my application.
Asian Applicant Personal Purpose PharmD Statement