February 21, 2019, by brzlds

Being part of PharmNotts

Hey there! My name is Kit. I am 19 years old and I study at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus as a Year 2 MPharm 2+2 student.

During my first year at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, I was fortunate enough to be elected onto PharmNotts (UNM’s Pharmacy Students’ Association) as an assistant event manager. I gained so much experience; hosting events, leading a team and I also sharpened my interpersonal skills, which was particularly useful when liaising with committee members and participants of the events I chaired. With the ending of an academic year signals elections for a new executive committee and I was honoured to be elected as the President of PharmNotts in my second year.

In an instant, my role at PharmNotts changed as the president of a committee I love. I have an amazing team and we collaborate; planning events and activities to improve our student members’ experiences.

I’m currently one semester through my tenure and we’ve rolled out our plan for the academic year. We’re working rapidly to our goals and our events so far have been a success. Our very first event of the year was our annual Orientation Day, where we welcomed our Year 1 juniors and Year 2 exchange students to the Malaysia Campus. Various icebreakers, team-bonding activities and a lunch was planned and the Year 2 seniors decided to join in on the fun and participated in our ‘Epidemic’ session. My personal highlight of the session was how well the teams bonded, there was lots of laughter but some fierce competition which was great to see!

We ended the session with our yearly buddy allocations where the juniors and internationals are paired to a Year 2 senior as a buddy which is more than just a support system but also, hopefully, a lifelong friend!

Nearing the end of semester one, we held a Blood Donation Drive in collaboration with the National Blood Bank Malaysia. Held biannually, this sacred tradition of PharmNotts is where my faith in humanity is reassured. As minuscule as the act may seem it was amazing to see the turnout as countless, selfless individuals came to contribute to the cause and I sincerely hope this tradition remains constant at PharmNotts for future cohorts.

My team and I have been working on a new project as we intended to provide a platform for everyone in the School of Pharmacy to share interesting material. Not only have we revamped the website but also established an annual PharmNotts magazine where pieces of students’ research, professors’ advice, PharmNotts event updates, etc. are featured.

We are nearing the launch date so keep your eyes peeled!

It has been amazing serving our members this semester, but second semester brings lots of excitement too as we have 2 industrial visits to 2 prestigious pharmaceutical manufacturing plants to provide our members insight into industrial pharmacy. In addition, we have our “Fight Cancer: Cancer Awareness Campaign” scheduled to launch mid-March 2019 and lots more.

My involvement in PharmNotts has provided me with so many opportunities and enabled me to improve on myself. My advice would be to ensure you get involved in a society, try your best to put yourself out there, go that extra mile, raise the bars, change the rules and when you can, be of service to those around you too!

“We rise by lifting others.”
Robert Ingersoll

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