Haidar Raza (1st year, Pharmacy)

Q: Was getting engaged while still in university a good thing? "Yeah, I believe it's a good thing. But the engagement period could last for a while. I have been engaged now for 27 months. Being engaged helped me focus on any long term career goals and gave me a sense of structure, commitment and helped me learn to come to terms with responsibility in real life. Because I was in undergrad, I didn't know much responsibility outside of school—so getting engaged was definitely a wake-up call. My fiancée was already in dentistry school back home in Pakistan, so the pressure was on to also focus on getting into a professional school as well. That helped me overcome doubts I was having about what I wanted to do after completion of my undergrad." Q: What's the end goal behind getting a Pharm D for you? "The end goal is eventually to get into healthcare. I realize that pharmacy is a good balance between business and medicine, and the entrepreneurial opportunities are abundant. Specifically, I'm thinking about providing more continued care initiatives in my homeland of Pakistan, cutting down on unnecessary medication and guiding patients through the medication process. I feel these necessary in an environment where health standards and awareness is lower than what is ideal." Q: What's the average day like in for Muslim student in a professional program like yours? Any struggles encountered? "I commute from Surrey everyday which is a fairly long commute. In professional schools like pharmacy, there is usually a lot of work to be done and it can be hard to pray on time. Classes are back to back and the timetables are a bit different than the standard semester undergrad courses. For example, I'm taking 9 courses throughout the year and they all finished and start at different times throughout the year. There are also not many Muslims in my cohort and program which can be challenging but rewarding at the same time. One thing about being in a professional program, you need to make friends, because the sheer amount of work cannot be done by one person alone—teamwork is necessary to survival. Often times there would be social events held by my cohorts that would involve partying and drinking. This, I would refrain from. At first I couldn't help but feel that I was missing out on a sense of camaraderie that was established between them over weekend parties. But I've since made a more relatable group of friends who are very helpful and I study with them regularly." Q: What advice would you give to your fellow Muslims students on campus? "When planning your future, be realistic about your limitations; but at the same time try your best to maximize on the opportunities available to you in the now. Don't waste time. " Q: Tell us something interesting about your journey? "When I was 20, I started suffering from a condition in my eye. I now wear two lenses on both eyes. I knew I wanted to get into the medical field at some point, but careers like dentistry and medicine are demanding fields which I discovered I would not be able to sustain because of my condition. In a way, my condition kind of decided my field because I thought that if I lost my eye in the future, I could still practice pharmacy. My family was concerned about my decision at first, but I persisted and didn't want my condition to limit me."