My heart thumped with anticipation as the APhA–ASP National Executive Committee (NEC) stood together on the dark stage, the cheers growing louder. As we power-posed, the lights began to flash. With every flash, I remembered those I met throughout my APhA–ASP journey—the patients I counseled through Operation Heart, the lifelong friends I made at the Midyear Regional Meetings and Annual Meetings, and the first group hug we shared as national officers. It was powerful, sentimental, and hopeful all at once. It was a moment I wish I could have lived in forever.

Experiencing the APhA2018 APhA–ASP Opening General Session (OGS) as an APhA–ASP National Member-at-large was an exhilarating ride that is honestly hard to describe. I can say for sure that knowing every student pharmacist in that ballroom had begun a meaningful legacy that will last an eternity, elated my heart beyond anything I could have imagined!

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) School of Pharmacy is home to a diverse population of students and provides enriching opportunities. The city of El Paso is bordered by Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, with an estimated total population of more than 2 million people. El Paso and the surrounding border region is critically underserved in the areas of medicine, and approximately one-fifth of the population lives in poverty.

UTEP “IDEAL” students are prepared to be Innovative, embrace Diversity, demonstrate Engagement, provide Access, and develop Leadership skills to meet the needs of a 21st century demographic.

“Why do you want to go to pharmacy school?” I remember first hearing those words as a pre-professional student pharmacist, sitting across from a faculty member, in the middle of my interview to transition to the professional part of the Rutgers PharmD program. It was a pretty standard question, and an answer that my upperclassmen friends had told me how not to screw up. “All you have to do is say you want to help people. That’s it!,” they told me. And that’s exactly what I did. But if I were to be honest in answering that question, my answer would have been very different.

I attended my first APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition during my second professional year as a student pharmacist in 2014. When I walked into the convention center in Orlando, FL, I was absolutely blown away! It was huge, magnificent, and I immediately started running into student pharmacists I had met before. There were pharmacists and student pharmacists galore, and I couldn’t wait to meet everyone in sight. 


I used this meeting to attend informational sessions on patient care projects and APhA–ASP initiatives, network with fellow student pharmacists, learn more about where you can head in your career, and explore a fun city. However, I got so much more out of it than what I had initially expected!