Shalyn Jones is a first-generation college grad
Shalyn Jones was working in the prepared foods section for a grocery store chain in Auburn, N.Y., when she enrolled in Le Moyne College in Syracuse, N.Y., and asked for a transfer to another store to “anything but prepared foods.”
She ended up in the store’s pharmacy. Though she entered Le Moyne expecting to pursue a career in the dental field, she fell in love with pharmacy. She left the grocery chain pharmacy and started working for a pharmacy chain and “had an even better experience,” she said. “I had never thought about pharmacy before, but now can’t imagine myself doing anything else.
Jones grew up in Syracuse, and moved to Cato, N.Y., a more rural area about 25 miles west of Syracuse, after high school. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from Le Moyne in 2019, and is a P2 student at Binghamton University’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The second oldest of seven children, she had a lot of responsibilities growing up, but “always wanted to be there for everybody.” Jones is a first-generation college graduate and will be the first in her family to earn an advanced degree. She continues to work for a pharmacy in Cortland as she pursues her PharmD.
“Now that I finished my first year, I’m a pharmacy intern and I like it,” Jones said, though she doesn’t yet know what direction she will take once she earns her Doctor of Pharmacy. “I haven’t worked in a clinical setting yet, so I don’t want to make any big decisions until I get that experience.”
But no matter what, Jones looks forward to working with patients and learning from other pharmacists.
“I’ve never worked with a pharmacist I didn’t like,” she said. “They’re so nice and willing to teach me. They make sure I have the opportunities for teachable moments. And they like quizzing me a lot.”
Being in a community pharmacy is definitely the definition of a community setting, Jones added. “We have customers who come in and we know all of their names and they have long conversations with us. I like seeing people and trying to help them out with whatever they have going on.”
The pandemic has certainly affected her academics. “Being online is definitely different,” she said. Though she’s not a fan of online courses, “it lets me concentrate more when I’m home,” she said. “When it first happened, I thought we were going to be back by now.
“It’s changed my way of thinking and studying and my whole process of learning, Jones added. “You don’t have that one-on-one with other classmates. I used to be able to lean over and ask to have something explained really quick or raise my hand to ask questions. Now it’s more difficult to communicate with other colleagues and professors. I know our professors put themselves out there; it’s just not the same.”
Under new guidelines for social distancing during the pandemic, Jones joins her classmates at the pharmacy school for in-person classes. “We’re split up into three rooms and the faculty are in one of the rooms, so for one-third of the time the faculty are in your room. I know the school is trying to accommodate us,” she said. “It has changed our pharmacy experience.”
Until the pandemic is resolved, Jones will continue with her studies, working as a pharmacy intern and spending time with her husband, Joshua, who recently completed military service and is now a student at SUNY Broome Community College, and their dogs Duke and Morty.