I have selected pharmacy as my career because for as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by medicine. A sensitive young woman who grew up in Vietnam until the age of 12, I come from a perspective of Third World consciousness that is rather grim as compared to the practice of medicine and the availability of medicine in the United States. I was aware that other children did not have the medicine that they needed it while I was growing up and this made a big impression on me. The fact that I was a very healthy child who did not really need medicine was also something that I was aware of, my privilege, and the subsequent drive to give something back to my community. I have long seen medicine as a sort of magic, and, ultimately power, especially the power to heal. Thus, when reflecting upon what I would most like to do with my life, it was not a difficult choice to choose working with medicine, becoming a pharmacy professional. I am a highly motivated person who very much wants to attain the terminal degree in my chosen area. I am very serious about my career and dedicated to being an exceptionally conscientious pharmacy professional.

I find the greatest fulfillment in taking charge in the provision of pharmaceutical care to patients. I look forward to many long and highly productive years serving my community to the fullest extent of my capacity as a pharmacist who dispenses medication with the highest level of professional skill possible. I hope to some day open my own pharmacy although I also look forward to working as part of a team in a hospital. I have now been serving as a volunteer at an inpatient pharmacy in a XXXX hospital for more than a year. My duties at the pharmacy include primarily removing expired medicines from the shelves and delivering medicine to the nurses station. This position has provided me with an opportunity to much better understand the day-to-day activities of the professional pharmacist, inventory, technology, information flow, dealing with clients. I have fallen in love the pharmacy and I feel very pleased to be so dedicated to my professional goals since finding profound satisfaction in one's work can make life a great deal easier and more fulfilling.

Growing up in a poor country and surviving immigration at 12 has helped me to become a independent, self-reliable, and highly resourceful person who has had no choice but to work very hard at a variety of jobs in order to support myself school and college, I have persevered through a great deal of struggle, the language barrier, family problems; I am the only one who speaks and writes English fluently. I worked very hard on both academically and personal levels because I am determined to become a highly successful professional who does not give up in the face of obstacles. The greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to become a highly trustworthy pharmacist. I feel that the best way to augment health is to prevent and cure illness through medication. I also look forward to some day being in a position to helping to educate low income, non-English speaking, patients concerning the importance of diet and exercise. If possible, I would like to organize a student run organization that would spread this message by tabling in front of ethnic supermarkets, cultural festivals, Buddhist temples, mosques, or other ethnic gatherings places.