In this blog post, we will look at how you can sincerely include your reasons for wanting to become a pharmacist in your pharmacy school application.
Write about your academic experience and what you learned from it
Be stubborn about wanting to attend pharmacy school.
I always wanted to be a pharmacist since I was young, and I always thought that I had to go to a pharmacy school to become a pharmacist, and that I had to study hard to get into a pharmacy school. I studied with such concentration that I would get heat rash on my buttocks in the summer to maintain my top grades. However, I did not spend all my time studying. I wanted to become a pharmacist because I wanted to exercise my power to treat people and to realize humanism. That’s why I read humanities books related to humanism and looked for books and lectures that made me think about human values. Rather than simply becoming a pharmacist because I was good at studying, I was more motivated to become a pharmacist to help create an environment where people can live healthy lives and to realize the value of humanism. That’s why I’ve been trying to gain a lot of knowledge and values in various ways.
Improving grades in math, which had been difficult to improve, with perseverance
In order to go to pharmacy school, one must study science, and especially, the score in the math section is very important. That’s why I had to improve my math grades in order to go to medical school, but math was actually my weakest subject. I was bad at numbers, but I couldn’t give up. I thought a lot about how I could improve my math grades. It seemed difficult to improve my grades by simply following the methods of other students. So, first, I thought about why I was bad at math. When I analyzed the mistakes I made on the practice test, I realized that I lacked the basics, and I thought I needed to study the basics rather than solving difficult problems. So, I didn’t feel anxious when other students solved difficult problems, and I focused on strengthening my basics. As I strengthened my basics, I started to solve math problems easily, and my math grades improved faster than I expected.
Write about your major school activities and what you learned from them
Humanities reading club activities
I personally like reading books related to the humanities. That’s why I applied for and have been participating in club activities related to reading. However, I wanted to read more in-depth books and create a club to discuss the content of books. I especially wanted to create a special club related to the humanities, so I created the “Humanities Love” club within the club. It was a group that selected and read books on the humanities, organized the contents related to the books, and discussed the contents of the books. As the host of the “Love for the Humanities” group, I think I was able to engrave the value of “human love” a little deeper while leading the group and leading the discussion. In addition, I think I was able to develop my leadership while leading the Love for the Humanities group, and I think I was also able to greatly develop my empathy and communication skills through the discussion. Through these humanities reading club activities, which are not just about studying, I have been able to develop my own values and deepen my desire to go to pharmacy school.
Realizing the value of sharing through volunteer work
As I was busy with my schoolwork, I needed to do volunteer work. While I did it to keep up with my schoolwork, I also valued volunteer work for the realization of humanism and have tried to do meaningful volunteer work. My most memorable volunteer work was donating blood, along with volunteer work for the elderly living alone, carrying briquettes, and caring for the elderly with dementia. By donating blood, I have been able to help people in need and spread the value of blood donation through volunteer activities as a guide. There were more people in need of blood donation than I thought, and when I heard that blood donation saves people from pain and helps them find life, I came to believe that blood donation has the value of realizing human compassion. So I have been donating blood regularly and promoting blood donation through volunteer activities at blood donation centers so that many people can learn about the value of blood donation as a service in a more comfortable way.
Study group to solidify the basics of mathematics
When I started studying to improve my math grades and strengthen my math fundamentals, I thought that I could study without anxiety and without getting tired if I studied with friends who were having the same problems rather than by myself. So I gathered friends who needed to strengthen their math fundamentals and created a “Math Fundamentals Study” group. Rather than having a big meeting, we shared notes that summarized the basic principles of mathematics, and we spent less time studying to strengthen our basics and shared information and study tips with each other efficiently to improve our grades together. It takes a lot of time to summarize the basic principles, but by studying together with friends, we were able to reduce the time significantly, and by studying while encouraging and monitoring each other, we were able to improve our grades faster.
Consideration, sharing, and cooperation: Examples and lessons learned
Important math notes, shared
I have my own notes that I compiled and collected to strengthen my basic math skills. Since the notes were organized by math topic and included the basic principles, I often looked at them for help when solving difficult problems, and they were also important notes that I carried around with me and looked at whenever I had a spare moment. It was so well organized and easy to find, so I cherished it as my own personal math score-boosting notebook. I once shared that notebook with my classmates. My math scores suddenly shot up, and my friends were curious about my study method. I told them that I always value the basic principles of math and showed them the notebook that I had compiled the principles in. Then, one of my friends who was not good at math and was not getting good grades came to me privately and asked if he could borrow my notes. He said that he wanted to make his own notes on the basic principles without copying them, but only for reference. I saw his eagerness reflected in my past, and I readily lent him the notes because I knew of his eagerness. I also copied and shared the parts of my notes with my friends who were worried about their math grades. Of course, it was also a key point of my grades, and I was worried that sharing it might lower my grades. But the basic principles of math are not necessarily something that only I possess, and it felt more valuable to improve our grades together and work towards our dreams together. Eventually, my friends who shared my study method also saw their math grades improve little by little, and we still study together in study groups to fuel our competitive spirit and cooperate with each other. I don’t think the value of sharing is only found in large and meaningful places. I believe that the value of sharing can be realized even in common situations around us, and I have been making steady efforts to share even the smallest things around us, such as sharing the notes on the basic principles of mathematics.
Efforts and preparations related to the motivation for application and career plans
I have dreamed of becoming a pharmacist
Since I was young, I have seen people being treated and getting healthy through medicine and have also learned from the news how meaningful the job of a pharmacist is. Since I was young, I dreamed of becoming a pharmacist, and rather than thinking simply, “I should become a pharmacist because I’m good at studying,” or “I’ll be stable because pharmacists make a lot of money,” I had a clear goal of “realizing the value of humanity through the job of a pharmacist.” So, in addition to managing my grades to go to pharmacy school, I also thought deeply about human health, the reasons why humans need to live well, the value of a healthy life, and the value of realizing human love. Sometimes, when I was thinking about these things, some adults and friends would tell me to “study hard” and not to think about such things. But I argued that what is more important than studying is knowing the meaning of becoming a pharmacist. Being a good student is only a basic requirement to become a pharmacist, but more importantly, I came to think that I should think about the meaning of why I should become a pharmacist and continue to engage in activities that are consistent with that value. So, I did not neglect volunteer activities that help people, including blood donation, and I studied humanities books and lectures to think a little deeper and philosophically about the meaning of realizing the value of human love. Perhaps because of this, he not only performed well in his studies, but also stood out in various activities such as debate competitions and philosophy programs. A pharmacist who aims to treat people should have the value of “loving people” as a basic principle. And realizing such humanity does not come from huge activities or activities that seem to have a special meaning, but can be achieved in the daily life we experience. I have been consistently engaged in sharing activities that I can easily do around me, such as leading friends studying in difficult environments, helping neighbors in need through volunteer activities, listening to the concerns of those who are less fortunate than me, and thinking about what I can do to help them within the limits of politeness. And I am still studying hard to achieve such values through pharmacists.
