Marco Dela Cruz
Year: Freshman
Hometown: Chesapeake, Va.
Major: Chemistry
Career goal: To become a clinical pharmacist
Connecting with patients
“When I was in middle school, I started volunteering with a pharmacy department. I ended up doing a career assessment test, too, and was placed in that field.
“I want to become a clinical pharmacist and specialize in a certain area. I’m not sure yet but I’m looking at diabetes, pediatrics, cardio or neuro. Clinical pharmacists walk around with doctors in the hospital and meet with patients. It’s more contact-based than working in a lab and I’d rather have that contact.”
Acceleration Program
“The transition from high school to college wasn’t as hard as I thought because I had already met people over the summer through VCU’s Acceleration Program.”
“In high school, I found out about VCU’s Acceleration Program for pre-health students and applied. At the Undergraduate Admissions Block Party, the program had a panel and they talked about what they did. I thought it was pretty neat and it would help me get into graduate school, which I plan to attend.
“The four-year program gives an overview of all the pre-health courses at VCU. Over the summer — before my freshman year — the students stayed at Cabaniss Hall for four weeks. Every day during the week, we had information sessions on different careers and learned what we need to do and what classes to take.
“The transition from high school to college — on move-in day — wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be because I had already met a bunch of people over the summer and now we all live on the same floor.”
Getting involved
“I thought becoming a student ambassador would be good for my leadership skills and help me with public speaking. Ambassadors give high school students and their parents tours and show them around campus. It’s better for them to see the point of view from a student, too. We’re kind of like the face of VCU.
“I found out about FACT [Filipino Americans Coming Together] over the summer from another member. I thought it would be good to join because I am Filipino and I could get to know other people in my race. We do a lot of activities to get to know each other better and have fun.”
