I've read many mangas and stories, watched many dramas and animes, and listened to many experiences and opinions. One of the common aspects they all share is answering some sort of "why" question. Why did you stay in this world rather than going back to your world? Why did you choose this career path? Why do/did you do that? Why do you protect/stand up for your enemy? Why do you fight? etc, etc... It's interesting to continue reading/watching/listening to find out why these characters (or real people in some cases) chose their actions.
"Because there's still something I have to do."
"Because there's something I can do."
"Because there's something I want to do."
"Because I understand what you're going through."
"Because I care about how you are understood."
"Because I have something I want to protect."
So, where does this lead me sometimes? Why did I choose pharmacy? As I was walking to badminton practice (that unfortunately was canceled because of song-girl tryouts and without any prior notification. angryyy), thoughts ran through my mind leading to so many sprouting reasons to why I chose pharmacy. And it makes it even clearer to me that I really have no idea what kind of work I want to do with a PharmD degree.
Since I can't pinpoint exactly when I started taking an interest in pharmacy-type stuff (medications, consultations, patient care, prescriptions, over-the-counters, all that good stuff), I'll just say I started when I enjoyed drinking strange herb soups that my mom concocted occasionally. Love the black chicken with ginseng and other herbs that I have no idea what they are called. Enjoyed the swallows nest soup that I don't remember the taste to (but remember I liked it....). Was okay with taking strange white powder from super tiny cute wine jar-shaped vessels (about 1 inch tall). That stuff really didn't have much taste, and it was supposed to help boost the immune system. And, became really interested in herbal meds for exterior application when I had strange black-brown goop applied to my ankle when I rolled it during badminton. It smelled bad, but it felt good. What chemicals made these natural substances usable for improving a part of one's health? What did they do? My mom told me, "well, what about pharmacy?" This was around freshman year high school. My response: "Pharmacy? What's that?" Even now, I don't have a complete understanding of pharmacy because it's such a huge profession that includes so many possible specializations along with the usual, more well-known community and hospital pharmacy. And I get asked, "what does a pharmacist do?" I want people to know that it's hard to give a simple answer to that question because of the different work that pharmacists can choose to go into. Yeah, pharmacists dispense medication, provide consultations on drugs, call doctors to check on prescriptions, give out drugs... but there are pharmacists who are able to write prescriptions in the specialized setting (oncology pharmacist, for example). There are pharmacists in hospitals that make rounds to the actual patient to check on their condition and see if the drug recommendation is really suitable or not. And there are pharmacists who research on ways to improve existing drugs, on designing new drugs, and on determining chemicals that can come into good use as potential drugs. and probably even more. There are pharmacists that deal specifically with drugs with radioactive properties (nuclear pharmacy). But I'm getting a little off topic...
So, many types of pharmacists, what do I want to do? Patient-interaction would let me have a direct relationship with the people who take drugs I know about, so I could give them more specific care than what's written on the label. Working at a community pharmacy makes me kind of lean away from becoming a community pharmacist.... but maybe temporarily? Hmm... Hospital pharmacy could have much direct patient interaction, or I could even be making specific drug dosages that are not normally given. Or, I could specialize, since residency is a big plus (it's not required for pharmacists). Or, I could research. What I want to be able to accomplish with my job is increasing awareness for the importance of proper drug usage and increased knowledge about health. We shouldn't be promoting medication usage for every possible uncomfortable occurrence (slight cough? Tylenol. slight cut? some antibiotic). Is it really that safe to depend so much on medication? I understand that in some instances, it's impossible to not be on medication; but if you can, why not avoid it?
[added thought at 9:23pm] What if this interest in the entertainment world is pursued further than just watching pieces (and sometimes masterpieces) from producers? camera, make-up, design, props, organization.. maybe even some drug knowledge could come in handy. Just letting my mind wander some more.
Hope you see this, late reply. So what anime do you watch? I don't think I've ever asked you this, but I know you watch a lot.
ReplyDeleteI like manga a lot, but I find it difficult to like anime, especially if it's adapted from manga that I've read and liked. I do like older ones like Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, and Digimon, and I love Doraemon and Chibi Maruko Chan. Also I <3 Yakitate! Japan (bread!!!) and Ouran High School Host Club, but other than those, I find anime quite slow? The only ones I can tolerate are comedies cuz they're faster paced. But maybe I'm just not looking at the right ones?
Sometimes I find hearing a character's every thought a bit tiresome. Like in Death Note and Naruto, they totally over think the simplest matters. And often they try to be all philosophical but it sounds quite forced, like it was only put there to make the series "deeper" when in fact those kinds of thoughts aren't all that cohesive to the plot line. How can a viewer take a character's philosophical thought seriously when that character has already listed out all his/her delights or grievances on the subject, leaving the audience with no room to form their own opinion? But maybe it's cuz I often watch dubbed versions on TV so all that Japanese profoundness is lost in translation. Actually that's quite possible, often the shortest phrases in Japanese are incredibly thought provoking, but once they're translated (and lengthened to make a more accurate translation) the true meaning is lost. Okay... I just went off on a minor rant, haha.
And I do agree that "Why?" is such a deceptively short question, but is often quite impossible to answer. Like two weeks ago, in French class we just started Moliere's "L'ecole des femmes," a dramatic comedy. So our professor starts off the discussion with
"Why do we laugh?" And we basically spent the whole class time discussing that one question. Interesting responses though. I think those kind of conversations are my favorite; they really reveal just how differently people think.
Oh yeah, and of course applications always ask "Why". I'm totally not looking forward to writing my essays for Med School apps and going to interviews because of the "Why do you want to become a doctor" question. I have too many reasons as to "why" that it becomes hard to organize them all into essay format. And most of them don't stem from actual discrete events, a lot of them have to do with conjectures on how my personality and the way I think fits well in the role of a doctor. And of course there is always the danger of the cliche response, "I want to become a doctor because I want to help people." I think right before I start my essays, I'm going to grab a large piece of cardboard and make a flowchart/diagram of all my reasons.
So... I really like this post of yours. As you can see from all my digressions, it's quite thought provoking :D.
yeah, I can't stand watching dubbed anime anymore. I think it's the English translation and the voice overs together that makes the character lose its "realness." Go for the original cast and subbed episodes, even if the subs aren't that great. Somehow the inflections and power of the japanese voice actors and actresses make me feel like it's possible to imagine someone really going "Live on!!" [ikite! just sounds cooler haha]
ReplyDeleteno good anime recently. Yeah, I try not to watch anime that is based off of a manga series (those I enjoy reading much more), but there's this one anime called "Ga Rei 0" which provides the storyline before the manga's, so that one was cool to watch. I'm watching j-dramas more now. hehe. maybe I'll find another anime some day to start. I'm just not as caught up with the new ones because I haven't found a good anime site for anime news yet. :P crunchyroll failed me last year when it changed what anime it would have.
yay for thought-provoking ideas. :)