Humans of UCSF: Pillars of Gratitude

“I am a fairly non-traditional pharmacy student. I started pursuing an entirely different field, my husband and son are back in Southern California, I am older. My journey to pharmacy school was certainly not linear and was paved by the culmination of a lifetime of learning experiences.

But when I had to decide whether to come to UCSF, or to give up this opportunity, I asked myself ‘Do you want to look back on your life and realize that you worked this hard to realize your dream of attending a school that embodies so many of your values, only to give-it-up due to logistics, or some pre-conceived notion of the societal status quo, and have to face the reality then, that you didn’t pursue your dreams? And how is that going to feel? Do you want that for yourself? Is that the kind of role model you want to be for other women? Other moms?’

Obviously my answer was ‘no’. Now, it’s great to move forward and operate under that clear conscience and the conviction that I made the right choice for myself.

And to be fair and honest, there are so many people who have supported me along the way to bring me to where I am, and they absolutely deserve acknowledgement.

I could be the most hardworking person in the world, but without my amazing family, my mentors, and friends backing me, I couldn’t do it.

The overwhelming feeling I feel every single day since I’ve been in San Francisco is ‘gratitude’. I feel so thankful just to be here. It took many pillars to build this platform that I stand on today and those pillars — those people — are the ones who deserve the credit.”

Eline Kocharyan

UCSF School of Pharamcy, First Year