Pharmacy, business major doubles as homecoming queen, LKS leader, intern

04/03/09 -Rebecca Davis started working in a pharmacy when she was 16 years old.What started out as a simple job at CARE pharmacy led to her future career choice, even though that wasn't the current fourth-year pharmacy student's initial plan.

"I originally wanted to be an engineer," Davis said.

Her inspiration came from her co-workers at CARE pharmacy, all of whom attended the University of Rhode Island and spoke highly of the pharmacy program.

Now, not only is Davis an academic success, but the URI student was recently selected as this year's homecoming queen.

"I never thought that I would be homecoming queen," Davis said. "I felt really honored."

The Newman Club, a student Catholic organization that Davis is involved with, nominated the Berwick, Maine student. Prior to the nomination, Davis was also elected as vice president of the club. She initially joined the Newman Club last year and felt "a sense of family and community" within the organization.

As vice president this year, Davis said she is always "motivating everyone to get things done," like the various projects the club is involved with. She said the group assists the food pantry sporadically throughout the school year and each year the club does a community service trip.

During last year's trip to New Orleans her group rebuilt houses that were destroyed during Hurricane Katrina.

"The people helped us more than we helped them," Davis said. "To see them smile inspired me to give back to my own community."

In addition to her work within the Newman Club, Davis is also the president of URI's pharmacy sorority, Lambda Kappa Sigma. Davis said LKS was a way to meet people in her major and provide "outreach to the community."

Last year, Davis held a position as the Professional Committee Chair. She said she is always suggesting new ideas for her sorority.

For example, last year she was responsible for organizing the community service projects and coordinating outreach events, like Poison Prevention. During this event, members of LKS presented the dangers of poisons to elementary school children by visiting various schools in Rhode Island and speaking to children in kindergarten and first and second grade about the potential toxins in their homes.

Davis helped organize another event in which she and the group created a PowerPoint pharmacy project, and presented it to high schools around New England.

Davis said she and her sorority were able to present the project individually and promote the pharmacy profession. She presented the PowerPoint to her own high school, St. Thomas Aquinas, in Dover, N.H.

"It's exciting to share what you want to do with young people," Davis said.

Her excitement in the pharmacy field led her to take on a new job after her teenage years with CARE pharmacy. She has been interning at Walgreens in Middletown, R.I. and Rochester, N.H. for the past two years. Davis also had a part-time internship last summer at ZIOPHARM Oncology in Boston.

Davis is not only working on her pharmacy major, but has finished a minor in chemistry and is currently working on a second major in management business administration. She said the second major will benefit the type of pharmacy she is interested in, management care pharmacy.

"[The business major] will give me a better edge and better background [in order to] work in manage care pharmacy," Davis said.

She said she wants to be part of manage care pharmacy because she likes both the business and pharmacy aspects and has spent the last six years working with patients.

"The cost of medicine and surgery should balance with the care of the patients," she said.

Davis has participated in internships, clubs and has been a URI 101 mentor for the past two years.

"There are so many options and I never thought I'd be this involved [on campus]," she said.

Davis said she was extremely shy her freshman year. She said she believes she has gained confidence by becoming active on campus and taking on leadership roles.

In her spare time, she enjoys her "stress relievers" -running and cooking. Davis also enjoys visiting with family and having fun with her friends.

"I have made some really close friends [at URI]. I'm sure we'll stay friends for the rest of our lives," said Davis. After graduation, Davis pictures herself with a job in manage care pharmacy, ideally living in the city.

"Everything I do, I do it with passion. I put my heart into everything," she said.