Advertisement

Blog Viewer

Living in the Present

By Ashley Duty posted 03-25-2011 00:35

  

I couldn't help but catch "residency fever" yesterday... Friends from all over the country were posting Facebook statuses about how they matched at Kansas, OSU, Johns Hopkins, MUSC, and the list goes on. I was so excited for each of them and was thinking about how I couldn't wait to be in their shoes next year. But then I stopped myself...

A mentor of mine recently advised me: Don't spend too much time thinking about "I'll be happy when..." and focus on the things you have to be thankful for and appreciate right now.

She was right. I had been talking to her about the places where I might want to do a residency and obsessing about the things I was looking for, etc, etc. She stopped me and reminded me that I have plenty of time to think about these things later in the year and that I have plenty of exciting things going on around me that I shouldn't take for granted.

Right now, I am currently taking my last quarter of classes at ONU. We are in the middle of our pharmacy captsone and are spending time working on journal clubs, projects, case presentations, ACLS, etc. It's slightly overwhelming, but I'm thankful that we get to review all of the things we have learned before rotations. I also chose to take a Palliative Care elective with an awesome professor and I love it! Yesterday, we published the latest edition of the ONU Pharmacy and Wellness Review and I continue to enjoy my work-study job in our Drug Information Center. I've lived in Ada for a long 5 1/2 years, but I really need to give it some credit... I know I'll miss it once I'm gone.

Recently, I was appointed to be the next Vice Chair of the ASHP Pharmacy Student Forum Executive Committee and could not be more thrilled! I know that Stacy Livingston, Sarah Johannes, Diana Park, and Jesni Matthews and I are going to have a blast serving on the PSFEC and know we will represent students well. In addition, Stacy and I will be spending time in Bethesda, MD for our rotation at ASHP in September... but we really need to keep working on finding our housing first!

In my non-pharmacy life, I am busy planning a 5K in Ada for TOMS Shoes, finishing the script for our Relay For Life luminaria ceremony, and enjoying my free time with friends.

In the end, I have plenty of things to enjoy in life right now. I think I am learning to differentiate between planning for the future and living in the future. Not to discredit my mentor, but I think Ferris Bueller said it best: Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.



#Residency #Volunteering #Resident #Mentorship #PharmacyStudents
2 comments
470 views

Permalink

Comments

04-04-2011 23:33

Congratulations on your appointment to Vice Chair of the ASHP Pharmacy Student Forum Executive Committee, Ashley! I know you, Stacy, Sarah, Diana, and Jesni will do a fantastic job! Keep on with your non-pharmacy life endeavors where you can--they are important in achieving a balanced life.

03-28-2011 16:56

Good article. I think your mentor gave you the best advice ever! It seems that no matter what our age, we tend to look forward to tomorrow more than appreciating today.