Student pharmacists are sometimes told that they don’t know enough yet to create legislative or policy change. They are told that they need to wait, that they aren’t ready. Well, I am here to tell you being ready is overrated. With the state of the world, there isn’t time to waste. There are many good policy ideas, but not every good idea has a champion. Students can—and should—be those champions.

If asked to describe myself, I would say that I am a student pharmacist at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, a cat mom, and a Taylor Swift stan. While arguably those are equally important to me, I am writing this from my student perspective. In the 2019 Minnesota state legislative session, I championed a good idea and I was able to successfully create a new state law.

When I was a kid, I struggled a lot with feeling comfortable in my own skin. I ambitiously tried sports in middle school because all my friends played, and after a couple years and a valiant effort, I decided that they were not for me. I figured there had to be something that would challenge and excite me in the same way that my friends were challenged and excited by sports. During my first year of high school, I hesitantly decided to try pottery. A few weeks into the class, I realized I absolutely loved it. It brought such joy that I took an art class almost every semester during high school. Because I tried something outside of my comfort zone, I discovered a passion that I would not have otherwise.