My name is Robert
MacKnight Guarino. I am a 22-year-old pharmacy student who is starting the
fifth year of my program at the University of Connecticut. I come from a close-knit family. In fact, my
family that is one of the reasons that I chose to go into pharmacy.
Let’s start off by
introducing you to my family. My dad is
an engineer and my mom is a nurse. My older brother, Matt, is my Irish
twin. We are the same age for a week
every year because my birthday is 8 days before Matt's. He has his associate’s
degree and is now pursing a Bachelor's degree at UConn. Being this close in age has made us fast
friends. My younger brother, Zach, is two years younger than me and is a
sophomore at UConn working towards a geography degree. My mother's family lives 20 minutes
away. We see them all the time. My dad's
parents live in Buffalo, which is 400 miles away so we would only see them 2,
or 3 times a year. Although we didn't
see Pa and Grandmother a lot growing up, we have a great family history. My dad
would tell us stories about Pa and his persistence in accomplishing things that
would benefit the family.
Unfortunately,
Grandmother started to develop Alzheimer's in her mid to late 60s. Pa was her sole caretaker. Hard of hearing, stooped with age but full of
determination, Pa decided that he and Grandmother would beat Alzheimer’s. He read everything he could about the disease.
He took her to doctor's appointments, took control of her medications and
devised an exercise program for her. He
was responsible for all her care. As a
teenager, I would hear the phone conversations between my dad and Pa as dad
would call everyday to see how things were going. I could hear how difficult it was for Pa to
understand what the doctors were telling him. I could feel his frustration as
Grandmother continued a slow decline.
But he never gave up! Just before
she died, he said; "we were finally starting to beat it." This battle with Alzheimer’s lasted at least
15 years with the last 5 being the most difficult.
Inspired by Pa, I
entered the pharmacy program at UConn. I
am a people person and I look forward to providing empathetic compassionate
care to the elderly population who struggle with various chronic illnesses. As
a pharmacist, I will be able to teach the patients about their medications and
ensure they receive the maximum benefits from their regimens.
