A natural helper

It’s natural for a kid who was around doctors and healthcare to look to that as an option for the future – and I was no exception. As I got older, I started to think about healthcare as a career choice. It interested me, and I had already spent years observing as a patient.

When I was 7, my dad severed his left thumb in a farming accident. I was in charge of teaching my dad how to button his shirts as part of his rehabilitation. That’s when I realized how much I loved helping others.

With the encouragement of my high school chemistry teacher, I decided to pursue pharmacy. Luckily, I would be able to spend my career going unnoticed behind a computer screen and a countertop. That was a huge relief for me at the time. I knew I wouldn't have to deal with any confrontation about my appearance as a pharmacist. 

See, I was afraid. I was afraid of truly challenging myself because I was scared that people would say that I couldn't do the job well, or that I'd be bullied all over again.

I worked at a pharmacy throughout college, and I realized some things that conflicted with my career objectives.

One thing I noticed repeatedly, is that pharmaceuticals masked symptoms and/or created side effects. I answered daily phone calls at work about side effects. Pharmaceuticals did not solve the cause of the patient's problem because health does not come in a pill. I never saw healthy people coming to the pharmacy, so I knew that, ultimately, we weren't providing health with prescriptions.

So, if I was going to fulfill this desire to help others, it’d have to be from a different profession. 

(I bet you can guess what it was, right?)