SeHan Jeong is graduating this week, earning a Doctor of Pharmacy and a Bachelor of Science in Public Health. She has served in a multitude of campus leadership roles, including as vice president of Student Government Association, president of the local chapter of American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists, president of Phi Lambda Sigma and as a resident assistant.
After graduation, Jeong has secured a prestigious two-year residency position in Health-System Pharmacy Administration and Leadership at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
She was chosen by her classmates to represent them as student speaker at Commencement. In this Q&A, she talks about the themes that are important for her to share as her class departs campus for new adventures.
As a member of the Class of 2025, what message do you most want to share with your classmates?
It's really humbling that my student peers voted for me to give the speech. The purpose for me as a student is to bring the community together once more before – it’s like a catch and release – before we’re released.
As the student Commencement speaker, I can afford to be less professional. I can make it a little fun. I am hoping to share some of my personal insights, what I'm thinking as we're going through graduation together. Hopefully it can be a point that other students relate to, or at least while I am talking, they can think about their own things. I want people to look back at their four or six years, or however many years they've been here, and appreciate what we've been through and then feel good about it moving forward.
I want to tell the story of how we got here, why we chose this path, how we maintained ourselves through it, and where we go from here – to help ease some of the anxiety we are feeling as we face what is next.
What are some shared experiences that you might talk about?
First, I don't want to talk a lot about COVID, although I acknowledge that it was a shared experience that we all got through. It’s a big thing, but I want to leave that behind us. We’ve internalized it.
I've been part of the community here and I've done different things around campus. Hopefully, other students will hear my experience, and they’ll recall things they’ve done and realize we're all connected. I could serve as a common denominator, right? I am hoping to tap sort of a nostalgia factor – sharing things I remember from campus that hopefully they'll remember too.
When you look back at your time at ACPHS, are there a couple of things that stand out as the most important?
The past couple of years, I have been very heavily involved in campus organizations, and honestly, those commitments dictated my day to day. What I remember the most fondly are the small moments, like sharing a joke while you're about to start a meeting. catching up on what we did over the weekend, or even just walking across the beautiful campus grounds to pick up food.
Those small moments made up the bulk of my six years.
What do you think you’ll miss the most about ACPHS?
Because I'm so familiar with campus, it's like my playground, I know where people are. I'm going to go say hi to this person or stop by this or that. Last month, I got to go to Springfest – there were a lot of people, it was such a beautiful day; those moments I'm going to miss.
It's knowing the people in my community and being able to spend time with them.
Is there anything particular you will carry with you from ACPHS that you think will help you in your residency and afterward?
To appease my professors, I can say the knowledge that I've learned. (Laughs.) The education is great, but I think being able to connect with people has really resonated with me. It's a skill that's going to serve me well. It's like networking, right?
One of the reasons that I came to ACPHS is because it's a smaller school and it felt more comfortable. You really are able to get to know professors and students one-on-one. I have had good relationships with my professors and other faculty and staff. You don't get that as easily at a bigger school.
Everyone knowing everyone strengthens those bonds. It's like a more tightly woven basket, rather than like a flimsy plastic bag. Quality over quantity. Having that quality makes everything more deeply resonate with me.