WHY IT IS IMPERATIVE TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS.

I fondly remember my days as an undergraduate student. My mind is taken back to this specific moment when, as First Years, we were having a tete-a-tete with some of the outgoing seniors at the pharmacy school. We wanted to know the tricks of the trade. How do you think I could hack the journey ahead? How can I make the most of Pharmacy School?

One of them casually muttered, "If you're looking for money, this is the profession, the trade. Your journey has just begun. If you want to help people, now is the time to consider that interfaculty transfer to the school of medicine!". There were two facets to this statement.

As I pen this, I'm still looking for that money! But that's besides the gist of today's article.

Rarely would someone tell you as a first year just how fulfilling the course or venture can be at the first interaction. It's natural to volunteer the challenges and pet peeves freely. The biggest downside is that this may sometimes form the basis of one's canvas and inform the coping behavioural changes that may be hard to unlearn. You're highly likely to be on cruise control with a blind spot, not fully opening up yourself to embrace the totality of a worthwhile experience.

Pharmacy school presents an excellent opportunity for growth and resilience in a high-pressure environment. You didn't get in easy; no one will hand you that Degree on a silver platter. However, this does not mean you should lock yourself out of a holistic experience.?

"A ship?in?harbour?is?safe, but that's not what?ships?are built for" John A. Shedd.

Failing to ask the right questions implies that anything goes. We subconsciously get to live out our experiences based on someone else's template. The majority feel that there must always be a template to hack new experiences. We believe we are safe in the confines of templates. What would happen if we allowed ourselves to think outside the box and not limit ourselves to other people's experiences? This is not to say we disregard those experiences but rather use them as a light and not as a one-size-fits-all.

What if we are open to living out the whole experience and getting the most out of it without worrying that things are not unfolding according to a template? What if we learn to look at failure as an opportunity to learn and get better at our craft and not allow the fear of it to make us live our lives through the exact experiences of other people?

By all means, ask questions. Just make sure you are asking the right ones, not from the point of getting a template to execute but from visualising what the process has in store so that you can think of better ways to augment your journeys/experiences.

The right questions help you do better. They allow you to be objective in your thoughts. They help you tap into your abilities and reinforce the fundamental truth that you are good enough.

So instead of allowing the fear of the units you have been told are very hard to decapitate you and confine you to the library, entertain the possibility that you are a young, all-round student. You can have fun, network, start a business, go for an exchange program abroad, serve in leadership and still give your studies the best.

I leave you with this: To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.

Your campus days are some of the best days in your life. Live a little.