It was June 14, 2015, and I was afraid. I’m the planning type of person and I didn’t really have a plan. I was boarding a plane for San Pedro Sula, Honduras, and in that moment I wondered, “What am I doing?” A few months earlier, I stood at the intersection of Moral Dilemma Junction while I debated a vacation in Iceland versus a medical mission trip. I hardly knew anyone else going to Honduras or how to take a blood pressure, and I didn’t know what to expect.
I’m a third-year PharmD student and a future pharmacist. I’m also a sister, daughter, and friend. I’m a midwesterner and a dog lover. I am who I love and who loves me. I’m a connector of people, a traveler, a learner. I’m an idealistic, visionary sort, and I have an obsession with opportunity. OSU College of Pharmacy has offered me opportunities beyond my dreams. I didn’t know it when I boarded that plane to Honduras, but I am passionate about serving underprivileged, low-income populations. I’ve since been to Honduras three times and Nicaragua once for medical brigades. I’m leading my first medical brigade next month in March, and I’m going on my first surgical brigade in Ayacucho, Peru this June.
So me if you were to ask me, was Honduras what you expected? I will probably say “No,” but if you were to ask me if it was worth it? I would say “Holy yes!” to the things in life that are intangible and waiting to be experienced and learned.
I’m forever thankful for OSU College of Pharmacy for the chance to go abroad and learn to listen to and care for patients, practice cultural awareness, and work directly with talented, diverse, multidisciplinary teams. Thanks, OSU, for letting me give back. Thank you for letting me give an old man prednisone for his life-threatening temporal arteritis. Give a woman the metformin she needs to control her diabetes but can’t afford. Give a boy a warm touch, a smile to help him through the incision and drainage of a large abscess under his arm. Thank you, OSU, for the opportunity to simply meet a little girl from El Progreso, Honduras, who has cerebral palsy. This little girl, who I will love forever.
Dear prospective students, thank you for taking the time to look at our PharmD blog. The OSU College of Pharmacy has over 20 different student organizations you can join to either actively pursue your passions or explore to find your passions. Start reading about them here.
If you have any questions for me, please feel free to email me at zhang.1177@osu.edu!
Joyce Zhang is currently a third-year PharmD student at The Ohio State University. She enjoys volunteering at local free clinics, providing healthcare to underserved populations on medical brigades to Nicaragua and Honduras, photography, running and hiking, and drinking tea. She is currently president of Buckeyes Without Borders, president of the PharmD Class of 2018, a Student Ambassador Coordinator, and a member of Phi Lambda Sigma (PLS) leadership society, PODEMOS, and Kappa Psi.