INTRODUCTION ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏At the current moment, there's nothing that I'm super good at or super passionate about, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. When I was younger, my parents would always tell me to become a doctor or nurse or lawyer - you know, the stereotypical stuff. But as I got older, they started to become more lenient, and told me that they don't care what I go into as long as I like it and it makes good money.
There was a point in my life where I wanted to be a nurse, but it was really short. The reason is because when my mom told me to become a nurse, it wasn't for the money, but because then I'd be able to help people when they needed it. I may not be passionate about a certain field of study, but I am passionate about making others' days better.
At some point, I decided becoming a nurse or doctor was too difficult, but I had my heart set on doing something in the medical field. So... I decided on pharmacy? Maybe?? We'll talk more about this later, I suppose...

In order to get Doctor of Pharmacy, you need to take what I'll call entry-level programs (but are really called undergraduate programs), usually for a Bachelor of Science. There are only two universities in Ontario that have PharmD as a program, but you can apply from any university in year 2. The PharmD program is 4 years long, bringing us to a total of about 6 - 8 years in university, depending on whether or not I want to complete that Bachelor of Science (I very much do not, at least not at the given moment). Both universities have biology as one of their recommended entry-level programs to take before applying for PharmD, as they give the flexibility to complete the prerequisites needed to apply. We'll go with these two schools for now, but obviously, it's not just limited to these two for biology. ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏NEXT >>>

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

REASONING ͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏So. If my family and friends didn't keep telling me about going into pharmacy, I never would've thought about it. My mom brought it up to me one day, and then me and one of my friends were talking about it one day, and then another one of my friends, and then my cousin too???? Yeah, there's a lot of people I know that want to go into pharmacy - probably because they think it's easier than becoming a doctor or nurse, but honestly, I don't think that's true. Anyhow, I think being a pharmacist would reflect my values (wanting to make others happy, make their day just a little better, or maybe even be the highlight of their day?) while also incorporating things that I'm interested in (medical stuff like diseases and illnesses). I have pretty strong interpersonal and communication skills, so I think it'd be a good career path for my strengths as well. The more I think about it, the more I realize how interesting learning about what certain drugs do and how they help will be. Just like my mom said, "if you don't like anything a lot, then just choose something good and stick with it". She put a lot of emphasis on choosing what I want and not wasting time, so here we are.
Yes, my parents still have that weird stigma around going to college. I know the terms college and university are interchangeable in the US, but they always say it's bad, and me and my brother are like, "yeah, that's not how it works." But for the career I currently want, there's no other choice than to go to university (I think?) so I'm just going to have to deal with the lectures.
Additionally - PharmD is way, way shorter than a bunch of other medical stuff I would potentially be interested in, and that's good for me, personally, because I really do not have the mental power to be in school for that long. My elementary school was K-8, so I literally spent 10 years with the same people; when I got to highschool, I was expecting it to feel just as long, and then randomly in the middle of last quad I realized I'm basically halfway through high school without ever actually even being there physically for a full school year. Kind of trippy.
At this point in time, I think the program at the University of Waterloo looks more appealing, as it incorporates co-op, which I think would benefit me a lot because I'm more of a hands-on learner. My parents would prefer that I stay in Toronto, but I currently have a cousin studying at Laurier and another studying at both Laurier and Waterloo, so that's the one exception they'll make. They've already joked about buying a house for all of us (two cousins, me, and the younger brothers of me and one of them) to live together as we all attend those schools.
Oh yeah, and for how the tuition will get paid, I'm definitely going to apply for scholarships and OSAP, and either hope my parents have enough for the rest or live with student debt. How fun!

This was very long. My apologies. I hope it was fun to read.