The Daring and the Different

It's been a while since I've posted anything. Eeeks! Sorry. Once we return from our winter break, the pace is frenetic and there's just no time to blog, much less breathe.

We are preparing for our fifth and final interview day this coming Friday and I've heard many interviewees comment on how helpful the blog has been. (Which adds even more pressure to post regularly!)

A few days ago Mary Anne stopped by the office to chat -- no agenda, just a casual visit to see how we were doing. She mentioned a meeting she recently had with a current first-year student -- again, no agenda, just a meeting to get to know the student... and for the student to get to know her. She was VERY IMPRESSED with the student and raved about her post-graduation intentions of returning to her home country to help solve health disparities. The student, according to Mary Anne, struck the perfect balance of compassion, intention, bravery, and bold thinking.

It reminded me of a meeting the Admissions Committee had with Mary Anne a few years ago prior to embarking on that year's admissions cycle. She challenged us to recruit, interview, and admit "bold and innovative thinkers who aren't afraid to push the boundaries of the profession."  That's a direct quote, folks. I kid you not. I wrote it down and often refer to it when talking to prospective students. 

The same day that Mary Anne stopped by the office, my friend Heather emailed me a quote that seemed to embody the same spirit of boldness:

        Be daring,
        be different,
        be impractical,
        be anything that will assert
        integrity of purpose and
        imaginative vision
        against the play-it-safers,
        the creatures of the commonplace,
        the slaves of the ordinary.            ~ Cecil Beaton

In my quick research of Cecil Beaton, I found him to be a bold and innovative thinker who certainly wasn't afraid to push the boundaries of his profession. 

So to bring it all back to pharmacy school admissions: Are you daring? Different? A visionary? Or a play-it-safer?

Are you a bold and innovative thinker who will push the boundaries of this profession?