Generally, it’s expected that pharmacy students will never have it ‘easy.’ Some of us even work in a pharmacy or otherwise during what little free time we have. But for me, it’s stressful enough to just study and go to class all the time.
Here’s a glimpse into what a day in my life currently consists of:
Hit snooze on the alarm for the 3rd time. It’s 6:30 AM; you always set your alarms for 5:00 AM with high hopes that you’ll wake up and do something productive, but you never do.
A feeling of fatigue comes over you as you open your eyes and blink at the alarm on your bedside table a few times. Wow. Is that really the time? You feel as if you have only slept for 2 hours (even if it has been more). You rub your eyes and beg your body to get out of bed because you can’t afford to miss a class.
When you finally get the energy to get up and sluggishly walk into the kitchen to fix your coffee, you try to recall why you’re feeling so tired. You were up late every day this weekend studying for your exams. This is going to be rough. You try to shake the feeling that it’s going to be a long day when you hear your coffee finish brewing.
You finish fixing your coffee, and you start getting ready for the day. Again, you think that today is going to be a long day. It’s Tuesday. You have a Physiology exam at 7:45 and then you are stuck in that same class for 2 hours. Then after that, you have a brief lunch break and then it’s off to Case Recitation. It’s hard to imagine a world where your day doesn’t start at 7:45 AM and end at 4:00 PM, but it seems to be nowhere in sight.
After finishing off your cup of coffee, you try to make sense of the mess that is your hair. You run a brush through it and hope it will look decent enough. If you have time, you fix your makeup, and you’re on your way.
You make it to your exam with a few minutes to spare, but then you realize that you didn’t eat breakfast. You start digging around in your bag in hopes that you packed something that will hold you over. You pull out something totally unhealthy and nibble on it until your professor comes in to begin the exam.
After your exam is over, you walk down the hall and set your stuff out to begin studying for whatever exam is next on the agenda before class starts. It is a neverending cycle. Study for one exam, take it, study for another.
Finally, it’s time to start class. You pack up your things and head back into the room, where someone has taken the seat you’ve been sitting in since the beginning of the year. Go figure. You plant yourself in a seat closer to the back of the room and prepare yourself for the longest 2 hours of your life.
After class, you heat up your lunch and eat it with your friends. Lunch goes by so fast (as it always does) and it’s time to start the last class of the day. You try to pay attention, but all you can think about is the nap you so desperately need but cannot afford to take after class.
You get out of class and head back to your apartment. There, one of two things happens. You either start studying again, or you lay down in hopes of taking a quick nap and it turns into a 2-hour nap which you instantly regret.
After your nap, you try to study some more, but you get distracted by the hunger in your belly. Time to go get dinner. You meet some friends for dinner, but you have to rush off because you have to actually be productive and study.
You tell yourself you’re going to get to bed early, but it rarely happens. You either find yourself studying into the wee hours of the night, or you find that this is the only free time you have, so you have to use it to relax and spend some time on yourself.
Finally, you shower, pack up your bag for the next day, and pick out your outfit. You brush your teeth. You lay down in bed.
And finally, you set your alarm for 5:30 again…knowing it’s already 12AM or 2AM… knowing you won’t wake up that early, but still hoping you can get an early start.
You shut your eyes and dream of the days when you are an active pharmacist… happy, healthy, free.
You’re always trying to thrive, but honestly, it’s okay as long as you just survive.
Try to Stay Golden,
Emily
Gluten Free PharmD 
wow thanks for sharing sounds interesting!
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