Hello and welcome to my first blog! My name is Taeam Kang and I will be taking you all on a trip down my life. I first came to the University of Oklahoma to major in Microbiology, Pre-Dental. I enjoyed the field of dentistry and made the effort the past three years to work and get as many shadowing hours and experience as possible. However, this past summer I had a change of heart and changed my major to Pre-Pharmacy in hopes to further my education in pharmacy school. My career goal is to become a head pharmacist for Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals. The reason I decided on Pre-Pharmacy rather than Pre-Dental is my hands strangely shake constantly and I decided it’d be best if I did not choose the hand-on surgery route. It is not a serious condition as one can barely even noticed without staring hard at my hands, but I will entrust the field of dentistry to those more qualified.
I currently live with six of my friends in a house near
Campus Corner. My family consists of my mother, step-father, and an older
sister who attends the University of Oklahoma with me. My family used to have a
dog and two lovely cats, but our dog died of old age and we gave our kitties
away to our grandmother, who keeps 12 cats in her home.
My ultimate life goal is to give back. When I first
moved to the U.S. 12 years ago, I was blessed with countless friends and those
who wanted to help get myself settled in a new country. Those people continued to
help and give and it really helped me open my eyes on what is important. I
believe in a society where we can continue to help and bring each other up
rather than dividing and blaming each other for all world problems. It is a vision
of mine to see that the less capable people in the world, especially in the third-world
countries get all the healthcare and medication they need without suffering.
One of my favorite places to be besides my room, is
Pagosa Springs, CO. One of my best friend’s family has a condo up there where
my friend group takes a trip to every Christmas break. I know, it’s just
Colorado. However, this place will never be beaten as it is a tradition for our
friend group now and we plan on continuing this tradition even after starting
our own families one day. It’s just really monumental for our friendship, ok.
Well, I hope this explained the type of person I am a
little bit, I’ll see you guys next time 😊
What a great career shift, Taeam: I am guessing that all the things you were studying as Microbiology/Pre-Dental will be a big benefit to your in pharamacy also. We have a friend here who is a pharmacist, and he is a great guy, and he is SO knowledgeable about medicine in general. Sometimes I learn more from him than from the doctor!
ReplyDeleteAnd as you can guess, medicine and healing is a big topic in the epics: the epics are about wars and battle, and where there are wars and battle, there are also people trying to save lives too. And my favorite mythologist in India today, Devdutt Pattanaik (he is AMAZING; this is his website: devdutt.com) used to be in the pharmacy industry! His main focus now as a writer is mythology (and he has written SO MANY books!), but he is also very interested in the intersection of business and mythology, as in this book: Business Sutra - link. He uses a lot of anecdotes there from his years in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry... explained with mythology!
Hi, Taeam!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you had the wisdom and courage to change your major! I went through a similar experience 2 years back, and I hope that you feel satisfied and content with your new career trajectory! Pharmacy certainly drew my attention when I was in orgo, so I can see the appeal.
What an admirable life goal! I respect your viewpoint of how the world could ideally function and I wish that we were a lot closer to that than we are now.
Cheers,
Chris
Hi, Taeam.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your introduction. You went into great detail about what you want to do with your life and I think that is such a great thing for people to know, especially while still in college.
I like your output on wanting to give back, giving back is one of the biggest pleasures in life and I hope you can do that when you get older and start your career.
Wish you the best,
Logan
Hi Taeam! I really like your vision of a society where people all try to help other people without judgment. I think that's a great idea.
ReplyDeletePharmacy sounds like a really interesting field and I'm sure you'll find lots of opportunities to help others and give back.
I've never been to Colorado, but everyone else seems to really love it there. It's nice that you have that tradition of going there with your friends. Also, your cats are really cute.
Hey Taeam!
ReplyDeleteSuper interesting introduction. I am really glad you discovered your passion for pharmacy and I hope it all goes well. I love your idea of helping out in third world countries and under privileged environments, one day i would love to do the same. I also love Colorado! My brother moved there recently for law school and i visit him often, it is definitely one of my favorite spots.
Best!
Saad
Taeam, I really like how you have a specific vision for your career and I wish you the best on achieving this goal! I am also in the pre health field (premed) and am pursuing a career as a physician because I love helping others and giving back! Best of luck to you in your studies this semester and I look forward to reading more of your blog posts!
ReplyDeleteHello Taeam! First of all, that picture is great. The cat resting its arm on the chair is, for lack of a better word, epic. I really appreciate your wise decision to switch careers. Sometimes our physical limitations can hinder us a great deal, but you have decided to persevere through yours by doing something just as helpful. I also really love Colorado. I used to take vacations there quite often as a kid. I want to go back!
ReplyDeleteHi Taeam!
ReplyDeleteSo nice to meet you. I really respect your decision to pursue pharmacy medicine, I think that is so cool! Also, wow, 12 cats in your grandmas' home? I bet there is never a dull moment in her house, haha. I have a friend who has four cats and I feel like that is enough of a zoo, but I must admit that it is really cute. Anyways, I look forward to reading your stories and your writing for the rest of the semester!
HI Taeam!
ReplyDeleteI'm a pre-dent student and I've also considered switching to pre-pharmacy as well. My hands are not quite so shaky, but I do get anxious thinking "what if I'm not so good at doing dental work?" Either way I want to give it a go and hope that I perform well. It's crazy that your grandmother has 12 cats at her house. I have one cat as well, but cleaning up after it and taking care of it is a lot of work. I hope you succeed in your academics this semester!
Hi Taeam!
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you. I love Colorado as well it is the most beautiful place ever, and when you are there you always feel so calm and relaxed no matter what. I am more a dog person than a cat person but I love all animals. I hope you have a great semester.
Hi Taeam!
ReplyDeleteYour goal to give back is very inspiring, and I am excited to see what you go on to do!! I went to Honduras on a Global Brigade through OU Global Brigades, and they had both a dental and pharmacy station. I am pre-medicine, so I did not expect to like either very much, but I learned a lot in both areas and the in-person experience was amazing. The dental station was hard to handle, as there were lots of tooth extractions without medicine, but the pharmaceutical station was surprisingly satisfying. I hope you love it!
Hi Taeam!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who also wants to go into the medical field, and potentially surgery, I also worry about the steadiness of my hands! It’s crazy how before making up our minds about career paths, we don’t think about things like this, but once we do it can literally make or break your decision! I am glad you found something else that you are passionate about though! Best of luck!
Hi Taeam! Its super awesome to me that you have such a great group of friends that have supported you from the moment you got here. Friends like that are irreplaceable and I am so glad that you get to experience life with such a tight knit group. I've never been to colorado but I am actually planning on visiting there during christmas break with my group of friends as well. I really support and align with your views on the world. There's truly nothing more important than your relationships with other people so helping whenever and wherever you can is a way that we as humans could definitely change the future for the better. Goodluck with your future in Pharmacy school.
ReplyDeleteHello Taeam, it is nice to meet you. It is nice to see someone with such a strong passion in the medical field. I have many friends that are following the same path as you educationally and professionally. I am certain that you will succeed in life and your goals. I wish you all the best. I might see you in the future to get my teeth cleaned. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Taeam, I find it so encouraging that you made the decision to leave your previous interest in the dental field behind because you knew it would be best for any future dental patients. It is cool that you found a link between your passions and skills to determine your future career as a head pharmacist; I bet this was a difficult decision, but it seems that your eagerness to give back to others will bring you great success with this career. Best of luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Taeam, I loved reading your introduction. You sound like someone who has thought a lot about where you want be in life and what you want to strive to be. I admire your vision of a world where everyone helps each other and the less capable receive the healthcare and medication they need. I really hope that one day, we will get there. I wish you best of luck with your career and I look forward to reading your stories!
ReplyDeleteHey Taeam!
ReplyDeleteMan, I am so sorry to hear the reason to opt out from your original career route. It always hurts to be held back from something you want to do, especially if it is something you can't change! I am glad to hear that you were able to accept the situation and find a different plan! Pharmacy has always been one of my options and continues to be! I hope you are able to succeed and enjoy your newly chosen career field. Also, it is always great to hear people say their goal is to give back. Not much is heard about helping one another out these days, but it's great to see you with that mentality! Best of luck.