Back to school

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."

-Aristotle, Greek critic, philosopher, physicist, & zoologist (384 BC - 322 BC)

It is back to school time already! Seems like the summer flew by, but telling by the 50 degree weather this morning I am sure of it - the Fall is almost here. As a kid I hated saying goodbye to my summer, however I was secretly excited about the prospect of the year ahead. Plus, my mom always took me school shopping for some new duds so that made the first week back even better.


I talked to my oldest nephew this weekend about his back to school preparations. He's entering the 7th grade so he and his classmates will now have some entering sixth graders to pick on. It's great to not be the new kids on campus, right? I loved hearing him talk about his plans for the year -- alto sax in the band class, advanced algebra, and a new laptop with Windows 7! He is all set. He promised straight A's again. I'll bet he gets straight A's, too. He is just that good. Runs in the family.


I think a lot about all the pharmacy students out there starting pharmacy school this year. My job is all about you. I want to help you develop into pharmacists who move our profession forward and improve the lives of patients. I used to be you and somehow through unplanned events and happenstance (and a little luck) I ended up here...I never really imagined this was where I would be just four years after graduating. The hard thing is that I can't prepare you enough for the unknown and trust me, your future, like mine, is a big unknown. There is so much excitment and hard work ahead of you! I wish I could talk to each of you and hear about your plans to make straight A's and how your new laptop is going to help you do just that. But I can't because there are 12,000 of you starting pharmacy school this year. I will offer you all one suggestion and challenge - take Aristole's quote to heart.


QUESTION EVERYTHING YOU LEARN. You owe it to yourself.