By Katherine Katsivalis

Growing up, I was terrible at sports. After a decade of bench-warming for church-league soccer and basketball games and feeling a little like a misfit, this nerd found her niche: musical theater. I started doing plays with a group called the Pilgrim Players when I was in sixth grade. I played Flower #3 and Milkmaid #6 in Beauty and the Beast, and from there, I was hooked, acting and singing my way through middle school and high school in every music- and/or theater-related afterschool activity possible.

In spite of my love for storytelling through both choir and acting, the curtain call on my acting career came with my senior year of high school. This is because, at the end of the day, my one true passion is and always will be pharmacy. This was evident all throughout high school. For example, during one night of tech week for Into the Woods, I sprinted multiple times over the course of 4 hours—in full costume and character shoes—from the theater down two hallways to the computer lab to write a paper in between my scenes. I may have twisted my ankle, but I got an A on the paper and never missed my chance to play Jack’s Mom. During most other rehearsals throughout the years, I would sit in the pitch-black audience’s seats with a book light to finish homework, to the loving teasing of my castmates and directors alike.

Although a lot has changed during these last 7 years, I haven’t lost that part of me that loves musical theater. I talk in accents and character voices when I tell stories to friends and family, and I put on a nightly performance to an audience of shampoo bottles who think the acoustics from my hairbrush “microphone” sound fantastic. This is why when APhA–ASP made the announcement about auditions for “Student Pharmacists Got Talent” at the 2018 APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Nashville, my whole personality erupted with excitement. If I went through with the audition and was chosen, it would be an opportunity to share with others my love for both pharmacy and performing.

“What do I have to lose?”

Of course, sending in an audition tape felt very intimidating. Today, singing for me is a way to escape and de-stress from being a student pharmacist and to lose myself in something that is emotional and creative. I am by no means a polished singer. However, I thought to myself, “I’ve done far more embarrassing things for the love of theater (including attending a professional science camp with a head full of bright purple curlers so that I could play Glinda in The Wizard of Oz later that night). What do I have to lose?”

With that attitude, I chose to audition with a song that’s been dear to my heart since I was a teenager: “Taylor, the Latte Boy.” It’s a comedic song about a woman with a major crush on her Starbucks barista, Taylor. My friends and I joke all the time that I can make a 15-minute story out of accidentally brushing shoulders with a cute guy, so I figured I could add a lot of my own personality into the performance and hopefully give the audience a chance to laugh along with me. 

As luck would have it, APhA–ASP gave me a shot, and if I am being honest, it has been 6 months and I am still doing an excited happy-dance over the news. When we were discussing the logistics, APhA Senior Director of Student & New Practitioner Development Keith Marciniak suggested involving incoming APhA–ASP President Nimit Jindal. I felt so honored that someone else wanted to join me on stage, and I knew Nimit was the perfect person for the job when I greeted him for the first time by saying, “Hey, I’m going to reject you in front of an audience in a few hours,” and his response was, “So good to meet you. I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks!”

Supported and encouraged

Performing during the APhA–ASP Awards Celebration at APhA2018 will remain one of the greatest memories of my time as a student pharmacist. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined sharing the side of myself that is goofy, eccentric, and musical with a group of my professional peers. The thing I remember most from the experience is how the audience made me feel: supported and encouraged.

You all brought me as much joy as Taylor, and I will forever be grateful.