Pharmacy student, Tenasia Powell, believes students can prevail regardless of what they face
“I will continue to push forward, excel, and remain triumphant in my journey to be what I was destined to be!”
Name: Tenasia Powell
Program: Doctor of Pharmacy
Degrees and certifications: BS Pharmaceutical Sciences
Anticipated graduation: 2025
Where are you currently employed? Walgreens
Title: Pharmacy Intern
Tell us a little bit about how amazing your current position is and what you do. How are you are making a positive impact? I have been working at Walgreens for almost three years. I worked as a certified pharmacy technician for a year and a half and have been working as a pharmacy intern since. I assist the pharmacist mainly in providing over-the-counter recommendations for patients, patient counseling, and overall patient-centered care. CPHS has helped me significantly because I get the chance to take what I learn in class and apply it. The knowledge I have acquired up until now has made these patient-provider interactions smoother for myself and the patients, and I am grateful for everything I have been taught along my journey.
Why did you choose CPHS and what benefits do you believe you have gained from attending Campbell? Do you connect with the Campbell family? I chose Campbell for pharmacy school because of my undergraduate experience. In December 2020, I graduated from Campbell with a pharmaceutical sciences degree and absolutely loved it. It is such a small, close-knit community that made me feel more important than just feeling like “another student.”
Please summarize your personal, business, and academic journey: I currently serve as Pledge Educator for Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity Inc., Vice President for The Beacon, a CPHS Student Ambassador, member of the Pharmacy Curriculum Committee, a mentor for EMPOWER U, Treasurer for the Student College of Clinical Pharmacy, and Parliamentarian for the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists. I have a pharmacy technician certification and this year I received the Walgreens Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award.
Additional accomplishments: I am passionate about psychiatry and behavioral health, and my goal is to specialize in the field. I have various family and friends who suffer from mental health illnesses and have witnessed them, as well as others. I do not know, be subject to judgment by those who do not understand. That is why this subject is very near and dear to me and I hope to jumpstart the change I want to see surrounding this specific topic.
At Campbell we believe in purposeful lives and meaningful service. What legacy are you leaving/do you hope to leave? The legacy I would like to leave behind is no matter what cards you are dealt in life, you can prevail. I have Crohn’s Disease and have recently dealt with things that caused me to miss lectures, classwork/assignments, quizzes, and days on rotation. God gives his toughest battles to His strongest soldiers, and I know He did not bring me this far to leave me. I will continue to push forward, excel, and remain triumphant in my journey to be what I was destined to be!
Reasons why prospective students should choose Campbell over other Graduate and Professional schools: Campbell should be chosen over other schools because of the family environment. It is very easy to mesh in with all of the other students at larger, public schools, and not stand out as an individual. At Campbell, you get the opportunity to build relationships with multiple faculty members (professors and administrators) and feel seen. That has made my experience here much more worthwhile and has made me feel valuable in what I contribute to the program and school
Additional items you would like to include in your story: I wanted to use this as an opportunity to provide some study tips I live by:
1. Study your harder material first – Each class is weighted differently based on difficulty/amount of material. Your IP courses are weighted the most, so you will typically need more time to study for those classes. However, the 1 and 2 credit courses should not be neglected. Whatever material you find to be the hardest, start there and work your way to the easier stuff. For me, it saves a lot of time.
2. Take breaks – I find myself studying for hours straight without taking breaks. In doing so, I learned that I do not retain the material as well and experience burnout. Taking breaks allows me to rest my brain. Whether it be for 10 minutes or an hour, I study more effectively and learn better after.
3. Find what works for you – Writing down my notes helps me learn the information better than typing. I use an iPad for notetaking because it is easier to carry around and I can write on specific parts of a PowerPoint slide. However, I have friends who use iPads, type everything out, or print out slides so they have a physical copy to write on. So, I am not saying go out and buy an iPad but try the inexpensive methods first because you may find out that method works better for you.
These are the tips I have used since my first year and some I have developed along the way. Use your first year as a “feel out” year. Play around with different methods until you learn what works best for you!