Tell us a little bit about yourself. Introduce where you came from and what you were doing before pharmacy.
I took a convoluted path through school. I always knew I wanted to do a job that would help people. I love talking with people and helping them. When I was 16, I volunteered with the community pharmacist and thought that it’d be something I wanted to do. I was in U of T Life Sciences for 2 years, then I transferred to Western doing Ecology. I finished my Bachelor’s in 2014 and finished my Masters in 2016. I published a paper in ecology, studying the effects of climate change on plants in the boreal forest. I also then worked for a year. After going through all that, I knew I wanted to do pharmacy and finally got in.
My mom’s side of the family started in Italy and moved to Argentina in 1950 and moved to Toronto in 1957. My mother was born in Toronto Western Hospital. My father is a first generation immigrant from Italy, moving with his family in 1967. I was born in Toronto, with 2 younger siblings. One sister just turned 22 and my brother is19.
What do you like to do outside of studying?
I like going to the gym. I take the Zumba and yoga classes at U of T. I watch This is Us and Full House on Netflix. I also like to read and listening to music in my spare time.
When I was younger, I loved fantasy books and I love Harry Potter. I still like reading fantasy books, like J.K. Rowling’s subsequent books Fantastic Beasts 1 and 2.
What type of music do you like?
I like listening to progressive rock. I’m a huge Queen fan, especially their old stuff from the 70s and 80s. I love Coldplay and Rush and listen to them when I need to concentrate.
I also sing as part of the Pharmacy choir, so I like the songs we do there.
What’s something you want to improve about yourself? Conversely, what about yourself are you the most proud of?
I feel like I am too hard on myself sometimes. If I want to accomplish a number of tasks at the end of the day and I can’t finish everything, sometimes I beat myself over it. It’s gotten better over the years and I’ve started thinking that I’ve given my best and that’s all I can ask myself.
One of my proudest academic achievements is getting into pharmacy school, something I’ve wanted for a long time. I had suffered from a number of anxieties issues when I was younger. I was very shy and very closed off, as a kid and when I was a young adult. At the age of 20, I’ve started opening up more, and my anxiety has definitely improved. I’m not as anxious as I used to be. I’m proud for getting over my own anxiety and it’s allowed me to have more faith in myself for doing the right thing.
Would you rather speak every language fluently or play every instrument masterfully?
I would prefer to play every instrument masterfully. Music is a universal language and you don’t have to understand it to appreciate it. As an example, I listen to Francophone music from Quebec and France and I also listen to Italian music. Although I can’t understand al the words in the music, I can still appreciate the tune and that the words are sung with emotion. Anyone around the world can appreciate it. It’s the fact that it’s so universal that appeals to me.
Someone offers you the elixir of immortality and you know it will work. Do you take it? Why or why not?
I don’t think I would. The reason is because we’re all on this earth for a specific moment and amount of time. While we’re on the earth and here, we have to do everything we can to make the world a better place. Enjoy life and it’s such a wonderful journey that if I were to take that elixir of immortality, I would feel guilty for taking that chance away from someone else. Why me and not anyone else? I would want everyone else to have that equal chance.
Say you’re playing hide and seek for a billion dollars. You win if you’re not found in a month. Everyone else in the world is looking for you. Where do you hide?
I’d hide in the arctic. It’s so sparse and there’s so many places you can hide. It’s so beautiful and vast that the chances of somebody finding me are slim. It’s cold, which I like and I think it’s rich ecologically, with lots of interesting animals and plants up there. I think I’d enjoy it from a natural standpoint.
All photo credits to Michelle Yee, 2T1 Pharmakon Rep.