Question:
The stress of school is really bringing me down. I haven't been myself in a long time. How do you upper years get through terms? I'm so scared about not passing my classes. I try so hard and don't even get the marks I want to be getting. I'm scared everyone else is doing better than me. Please help me
Response 1:
Hi anon, have you tried talking to your classmates? You might find that more people are struggling than you think. Try to build yourself a support network and don’t be too hard on yourself. The first few years of pharmacy are a HUGE learning curve and most people struggle to find their footing. Reach out to your classmates, reach out to your professors - you’ll find that almost everyone is willing to help if you ask.
Could you elaborate more on “the marks I want to be getting”? What kinds of marks are you aiming for? 70-80s? 80-90s? In both cases, why does it matter? You’ll find as you progress through the program that marks really don’t matter. As long as you pass your courses, you WILL be fine. What I have found through my co-op terms is that marks neither dictate your performance in clinical situations, nor your ability as a pharmacist. I’ve met students who didn’t receive top grades but they were brilliant otherwise. This is what employers look for - I have never ever heard of an employer hiring based solely on grades. With that said, if you’re struggling to pass, please reach out to your professors and ask them what else you can do. University of Waterloo professors are excellent and will help you as much as they can.
Lastly, recognize that pharmacy school is TOUGH. The workload doesn’t necessarily get “lighter”, but you learn to adjust, so in a way, it does get “easier”. Study hard, but make sure you take some time off to “decompress” - it’s not just how much you study, but how effectively you study, and it’s hard to maximize productivity when you’re under such high stress. If you’re in first year, you only have 2.5 months before school ends and co-op starts. Don’t give up! Hang in there!
Feel free to email us atuwrxprn@gmail.com if you need to chat. Everything is kept strictly confidential. There are also a variety of counseling resources that you can find on the SOPhS website here:http://www.sophs.ca/sophs-council/committees/rxprn.
Best of luck, and keep us updated on how it goes!
xo Irene
Response 2:
The above answer is fantastic and pretty much sums up all of the important points. There are only a few additional points I would like to add. Firstly, STOP comparing yourself to others! I know this is a very difficult thing to do believe me….I still struggle with it myself! BUT, you will find that you will never be satisfied if you do so and if you are never satisfied, you will just be unhappy and continue to put yourself down. There will always be someone out there that will outperform you! It ends up becoming a very negative cycle and you will just spiral deeper and deeper into it. Instead! I recommend you set realistic goals for yourself. Look at your week, what do you have going on and based on that set a realistic mark you can achieve. You can definitely achieve 80s and 90s in pharmacy school, its not impossible but if you get lets say a 70 is it really the end of the world? No it is not. People think if they get a 70 it means they are only going to be a good pharmacist 70% of the time. NOT true! It just means you are not the best test taker in the world, or maybe you have a personal issue going on in your life, or maybe you just have a lot more family/friend obligations or other commitments. I am not saying you should aim low either! Work hard and just try to do your best. There is a lot to learn in pharmacy school in a short amount of time! Its not an easy task by any means. And I know you’re probably saying but don’t I have to compete with these people for jobs in the real world? Therefore, don’t I have to be better than these people? Believe me that is not going to make your four years here at pharmacy school a very enjoyable one. This is a very special time in your life, pharmacy school is a place where you will make some pretty great friendships! Don’t let marks etc interfere with your focus of learning and developing deep friendships! We upper years felt exactly how you are feeling and believe me there is no magic formula that gets you through all of this! We all get knocked down from time to time but the key is to find it within yourself to get back up and keep going. Thats is what will distinguish you as a successful student! Be resilient! Try to improve yourself and do not look to others for how high you should set the bar. Set the bar at a realistic level so you can meet your expectations. Setting realistic goals and then meeting them can be a very satisfying feeling! As for feeling down, you know that you can always reach out to RxPRN for extra support or get in touch with counselling services if need be. But before you go to any of these support groups, make sure you set aside some time for an activity you enjoy doing EVERY week. Yes even on IPFC WEEKENDS. This could be playing sports, baking, hanging out with friends, seeing a movie, painting or whatever makes you happy. Staring at a deck of slides can get very depressing, so make sure you take study breaks and do something active! Hope this helps! :)