I came to the USA at age eleven, in 1997; now, I am twenty-six and completing my BS Degree in Chemistry, with a Chinese American heart that is dedicated to healing as my life’s work. Finding the missing link between pain and healing is my daily quest. I want to someday open my own pharmaceutical chain in China and join the battle to bring a broader range of pharmaceutical products to bear on the suffering of the Chinese people. My own self-definition will result from the way that I honor my homeland, China. And I see pharmacy as the key central issue to which I might be able to make creative contributions to our debates over what is or is not ‘Chinese’.
I am now prepared for full immersion in my studies for the next several years, having decided with my family and my economic responsibilities, so that I can devote myself entirely to my studies for the PharmD. Following graduation from your program, I would pursue further experience in my field, preferably with a company that could use my services as a representative of their interests in China. In this way, I would learn the additional hands-on kind of things, day to day challenges, barriers, and opportunities as well, that exist for new pharmaceutical directions in China. At some point, I would become independent, marking out my own niche in the Chinese pharmaceutical system. I am confident in my ability to excel in your program, especially since I have the support of a highly resourceful extended family.
I gravitated towards chemistry from the very beginning of my exposure to science. Despite a few stumbles, I made steady progress improving my grades. I feel like I have a natural predilection for the prediction of results, it appeals to my competitive nature, the way that I profoundly enjoy producing a physical impact. What I like most, simply put, is how reactions can be modified to obtain different results. Finally, far from some abstract or theoretical entity, chemistry is for me the foundation of both life and how to best prolong it, most specifically through medicine. For me to suggest, therefore, that ‘pharmacy is life’, would be to express a cornerstone of my world view, especially as it relates to science. It will be at the level of organic chemistry that I will make my greatest contribution to pharmacy.
The greatest professional honor that I have had so far has been volunteering under Dr. XXXX at the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of XXXX. I am assisting in the design of a small peptide that inhibits CRXC 4. synthesis by folding the receptor in such a way as to inhibit its response. We are using peptide synthesizers, small molecules, to produce chemical reactions that result in cyclic responses of amino acids attached to resins. First, we activated and then synthesize the compounds; next, we induce a process of cyclic compounds and native compound ligation that enables us to learn how to optimize conditions that result in higher yields and greater purification by modifying the condition in which we fold and purify the Pepetide.
I was sent away to live with a relative the moment that I was born because by law my family could have only one child and I already had an older brother. I was constantly shuttled back and forth between family, friends, and my own parents until I was three years old and was even cared for by a housekeeper at one point. Thus, when we came to the US and my parents enrolled me in a boarding school in San Mario, CA, this was a step up for me, despite the language difficulties that I encountered. I became an adult at about the age of thirteen, and soon began high school while living with my fifteen-year-old brother in an apartment close to our high school, with my parents back in China attending to the family business and supporting us. I grew up quickly and learned how to manage our financial situation, billing statements, writing checks added to my sense of responsibility, in line with the expectations of parents. After high school graduation I moved to Santa Barbara, and then later found myself near LA, attending XXXX City College. I find a sense of security in studying chemistry.
I have struggled throughout my life to prepare for graduate work as a scientist and a broad variety of life experiences have converged in this application to your PharmD Program. It would be a great honor for me and my family if I were to be selected to study in your program. The strongest part of my application is my sheer love for research, long hours, and the fact that I am a hard worker. As a volunteer at our laboratory, I find myself to be gaining increasing determination to succeed in life. Most of all, I am convinced that I would be an exceptionally good pharmacist, especially considerate and dedicated to patient education, someone who understands the emotional struggles that all too often accompany the illness itself.Â
I have now bragged for years of the A that I received in a sociology class in the Fall of 2007 at XXXX City College. Part of the requirement was to work as a volunteer at a local organization and I chose the KidsPeace Children’s Museum in Pasadena. I especially enjoyed the staff and the tourists as well as the responsibility of, among other things, making sure that our playground for children was safe and not overcrowded. I have a way with children because of my gentle nature.
The Psychology class that I took in 2008 was of formative importance for undertaking graduate study, since it is of vital importance to pharmacy professionals to understand the range of human emotion and how it is critical to the patient getting the treatment that is indicated.Â
The greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to help provide solutions to cure illness. I want to dedicate my life to serving as a link between the illness and the solutions that cure that illness. As someone from China, and someone who regularly goes home to China for long visits, I hope to have much to share with those who are interested in things Chinese in your program.
Thank you for considering my application.
PharmD Personal Statement Chinese Immigrant