Pharmacists of tomorrow: The student doing everything, everywhere, all at once

Samuel Jung has always liked to do as much as he can whenever he can. With 15 co-curricular activities under his belt during high school, an extra hand is needed to count them all.

Samuel has been involved in numerous activities outside of study. Some of these are in sports, where he reveals his favourites as basketball and volleyball, both of which he fell in love with in high school.

While he is now more involved with volleyball casually, Samuel continues to dominate the paint on the basketball courts in the university’s social league (UNIM8s) once a week. He is also a regular dabbler in music, enjoying playing various instruments and music styles.

He says he tries to get involved in gigs where possible and often enjoys learning new songs as he has an excellent musical ear. His passion for music was one of his major influences in wanting to study contemporary music at university.

However, after careful thinking, Samuel decided that studying pharmacy would allow him to enjoy healthcare and the sciences, with music on the side.

It is no secret that the BPharm can be academically challenging, often requiring more than the bare minimum to achieve success. This realisation resulted in a significant overhaul of Samuel’s co-curricular schedule. Recognising that he could no longer juggle everything, he introduced a prioritised wish list of all his hobbies. He has successfully re-introduced about 50 per cent of them and intends to continue working his way down the list. His most recent commitment involves training for the Auckland marathon later this year. All in all, he accepts that a pharmacy student will inherently have a fuller timetable than most other students and hence have less free time, but he emphasises how critical it is to be mindful of how we choose to use that spare time.

“Pharmacy school will always be the top priority. But when I have time, I’ll try to add something else back in.”

Samuel sees many benefits in pursuing hobbies outside of study and has few regrets. One of these is social networking. Networking can be a compelling concept in a world where your future can be influenced just as much by who you know as well as what you know. Samuel’s hobbies have allowed him to meet people from diverse backgrounds, exposing him to many different viewpoints where pharmacy can overlap with other sectors in everyday contemporary matters. One of the more notable talking points was on the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these discussions, he has seen the value of seeking different perspectives and how pharmacy students can fit into the bigger picture. He also notes that this will help him relate to a broader patient base in pharmacy practice.

“When COVID-19 was a hot topic, I would see things from a pharmacy side, and my mate would see it from an economics side. It was interesting trying to understand the different viewpoints.”

Samuel also believes activities outside of study can contribute significantly to your personality and individuality. While everyone studying the BPharm will graduate with the same degree, our differing interests can help shape us into our own version of an Eight-Star Pharmacist. Samuel wants to reassure prospective pharmacy students that pursuing this degree does not necessarily have to lead them down a rabbit hole of study. There is always room to live the student life like everyone else. He encourages students not to overthink every decision, and while we may not always have it perfect every time, it is all part of our continuing education of life.

“Just do it and see what happens! It’s important to stay true to what you love because that makes you who you are.”