Because of them

In 2004 I had the crazy idea decided to go
BACK TO SCHOOL!
1 year later after several chemistry classes...

I mention the possibility of Pharmacy school.
Click here to see what led me to Pharmacy.

5 year program

Pharmacy Doctorate.

Chris says,"I know you can do it"

So, I decide to apply and
Lo and behold, I got called for an interview!

Spring 2006 Pharmacy School Interview Day
(look how young the kids look)

Chris went with me to the interview (loved his matching tie ;) , and I got ACCEPTED

THAT DAY! Here we are; very excited!

A few months later...

Fall 2006 White Coat Ceremony Day

Class of 2011

another day, another matching tie ;)

Chris was checking me out in the white coat. LOL

My Daddy came to cheer me on....

and so did my Mom and sisters.

My entire class;

110 students got their White Coat that day.
And began the crazy little thing called
Pharmacy School.

In the midst of the White Coat excitement,
 I got a little wild and crazy and hopped on
the nearest tractor I could find.

(Yes, my school is in the country in the middle of
Nowhere, NC, and I love it.)

It was a happy, happy day.

Chris has been my #1 fan every step along the way...He has been the best. There were many times when he held me when I cried, ignored me when I was short and snippy due to stress, and helped out bigtime with the kids and house...etc....He was my rock when the waters would get rough. Anytime I would start to doubt the path I had chosen, all I would have to do was talk to him. He would reassure me again "You can do this". His quiet confidence somehow made me believe that maybe I could. I couldn't have done it without him.

BUT FAST FORWARD 4 YEARS......

Now, I am two exams away from being done with the didactic part of my program! This time next week I will officially be a P4, and I will be done with the classroom and exams forever! It has been quite a journey. Of the 110 people in my class, I was one of the 5 crazy students that were ALSO MOMS. Many times along the way, during a particularly stressful week~a classmate would occasionally ask me,

 "How do you study?"

 "How do you find the time to do..XYZ...?"

"How are you holding it all together?"
OR

"How do you catch up from the school work you miss when both of your kids have H1N1 flu for a whole week and your husband is out of state with a new job and no one is here to help you?? Surely, you are about to go crazy, aren't you?"
(Ok, the last one was a true story)

Ya know, questions like that.

 I had my moments, and I certainly bombed a couple exams. I even ran out of one exam crying and thought I would surely kicked out of the program. And who could ever forget the time during my 2nd year (which proved to be my most difficult) when ALL of our exams were at 7am and we had to be there at 6:45am ready to go.  ?!!? Who in the world can think that early in the morning?, let alone do pharmaceutical calculations? On this given morning, I did not eat breakfast (big mistake) and halfway through the 3 hour ordeal, I almost went into a hypoglycemic crisis. Hands shaking, dizziness, blurred vision etc....all this was happening while I was trying to calculate how much protein binder or surfactant was needed to make 30 ml of a 0.05% antibacterial emulsion. Sheesh! 

It has been quite a journey with many high and lows. Many times I would just look at Dylan and Karsen. Honestly, they kept me going. So, when one of my fellow classmates asked me "How in the world do you do it?" I can say that I couldn't have done it without my kids. They kept me grounded, they made me laugh even when I didn't want to, they continually reminded me what mattered in this life (sweet hugs and kisses, those little moments, the importance of taking study breaks to eat ice cream and make cookies)...along the way...I can honestly say that has made all the difference.

From start...

 To finish....

Look how far we've come

(and how much the kids have grown!)

I couldn't have done it without them. Period. I did not finish these last 4 years inspite of them, I finished because of them!