by Pang Hang, 2017 Pharm.D. candidate,
Wayne State University Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
On Sunday,
Sept. 14, 2014, I attended an event to support Gary Peters for U.S. Senate.
This was the first time I attended an event like this in the United States. I am normally shy and soft-spoken, but I like
making connections with others and seeing the impact that I can have. I saw
this as an opportunity to make sure that what my classmates and I are studying
for in pharmacy school will be intact in the future.
Honestly, I’m
not well versed in talking about politics. I went to the event with the goal of
making connections. I thought there would be more pharmacists there, but many of
the attendees were not. It caught me off guard when I introduced myself as a
student pharmacist and people asked me why so many pharmacists were at the
event. However, that gave me the chance to explain my interest in being there. Being
a shy person who still wants to make a difference, I take a less direct
approach to advocacy. I didn’t want to sound like a telemarketer trying to sell
them something. I shared my background, why I chose to study pharmacy and the
vision of how I see pharmacists helping in health care.
I got to hear
U.S. Congressman Gary Peters speak and answer questions before I got to meet
him. From this experience, I found him to be an approachable and reasonable
man. I liked that he made himself available to people and was willing to speak
directly to them. From talking to the other guests, I was able to visualize his
history of working with people and fighting for their rights. I met numerous
women and men who have seen the laws he worked to introduce and pass make changes
within their lifetime. That inspired me and gave me hope that I can make a
difference too.
I ended up
having such a good time at the event with good food and conversation that it
ended too early for me. It was only two hours, but I felt that I was successful
in advocating for pharmacy. I was able to talk to people about why, as a
student pharmacist, I was at an event supporting a political candidate. I felt
like I opened the door for another pharmacy advocate to talk with them. My
strength isn’t in talking about politics; it’s in building relationships with
people. I can play my part as an advocate by becoming friendly with new people
and introducing them to friends of mine who do know more about politics who
they can speak with.
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