YouAlberta
[Editor’s Note: Students and their friends and families are invited to celebrate convocation during the University of Alberta’s first-ever virtual convocation on Friday, June 12 at 10 a.m. ]
Graduation means so many different things to me. It means finally having achieved my pharmacy degree. It means entering into the real world and not having the title of student pad me and support me, but also not being confined by the constraints of a classroom. It means saying goodbye the university; the place that always challenged, pushed my boundaries and helped me discover who I was and what I wanted. As I close this chapter, I have some thoughts and thanks to share.
To the University of Alberta:
It will sound crazy but no matter how lost and directionless, I may have felt, the university has always been catching me and pushing me to realize that I am bigger than what I am going through. I am most grateful that the university pushed me to uncover my love of writing. I had no idea I was a writer in my first year but as I leave the university, I don’t know who I am if I am not a writer. No matter how far away from writing I went with my degree, the university kept me attached to it. Whether it be through my second-year writing professor offering me a tutor job that lasted until the end of my degree, writing competitions offered my faculty student group, or YouAlberta, I spent my entire degree immersed in writing and I could not be happier about that.
To my preceptors, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy assistants:
By valuing our input and role as a student, respecting our difference in perspectives, supporting us, providing feedback, and challenging us, you shape our career, the way we think, the way we approach care, and our future contribution to our profession. You guys are responsible for instilling the confidence we need that we will be able to be successful and handle the responsibilities of being a health care professional. The learning that you all have provided me goes above and beyond that of the classroom and these connections are some of the most valuable that I have made during my pharmacy degree.
To my sisters:
As I reflect to my first year of university, I have almost no links to that version of myself. I am not an accountant like I thought I would be. I am not friends with 18-year-old Azra’s BFFs. My hobbies and interests are completely different. As a lot of aspects of my life gradually changed, I always have had you two to count on for support and friendship. Thank you for accepting me for who I am and that includes my many flaws. I can’t imagine my life without you two and I am always proud to be your little sister.
To my boyfriend and best friend:
The last two years of my degree have been my happiest and most productive. A part of this is because you constantly push me to believe in myself and to not make excuses. Thank you for letting me send you long messages when I get passionate about something (i.e. Sociology of Aging) and for calling me out
when I set unrealistic expectations for myself. We’re opposites but somehow you were just what I needed to finish this degree and achieve some goals along the way.
As this chapter closes and I share my final thoughts, it does not really feel that there is any stone left unturned and I feel ready for graduation. My university experience had a little bit of everything, and every year was different. I could not ask for a better place to learn, gain resilience and confidence and
be challenged.