Being a B.Pharm student was never really part of my original plan.
When I first joined, I honestly had no idea where this field would lead me. Like most students, I was just trying to survive college life, classes, exams, assignments, internals, records… just going with the flow without fully understanding what I was doing or why. The only thing I started early on was building my LinkedIn profile, and looking back now, that small step helped me more than I realized.
As time passed, I slowly understood that pharmacy is much bigger than what people assume. It’s not just labs, research, or memorizing drugs. There are so many different career paths, skills, industries, and opportunities connected to this field. But one harsh truth I personally realized is that college alone is not enough to build your future. In my experience, college mainly gives you a platform, opportunities to participate, communicate, and expose yourself to different things. But the actual skills needed to get a stable job? Most of that has to be built outside the classroom.
And honestly, that part can get overwhelming. Everyone has different opinions about careers, higher studies, jobs, and “scope,” and as a student, it becomes extremely confusing. At the same time, college itself feels like a constant survival grind, stress, panic, deadlines, practicals, viva, and endless exams. Sometimes even the people around you, including lecturers, can make you feel demotivated or not good enough.
But despite all of that, I think the most important thing is to not lose yourself in the pressure of trying to have everything figured out. It’s okay to be confused. It’s okay to not know your exact path yet. Just keep working on yourself, keep exploring, and keep moving forward one step at a time. That matters more than having a “perfect plan.”
What’s something about college life that nobody warned you about?
MBH/PS
