VCU School of Pharmacy Student Features

Over 20 years after earning her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from VCU, Erika Nixon-Lambert is back in the classroom — this time as a first-year pharmacy student. Nixon-Lambert enjoyed a long and successful career in cosmetics but wanted something more. In pursuing her doctorate, she hopes to combine her background in cosmetics with her pharmacy education to build a career in compounding medically-grade cosmetic products. 

Nixon-Lambert says changing careers after a decade in the field may seem unconventional, but these days unconventional is the norm. 

“The nontraditional student is the student of the future,” she says. “Not everyone goes from undergrad, goes into grad school, stays in a career and then eventually retires. That’s almost becoming a rare scenario these days.”

Like many students entering college, Nick DiStefano experienced growing pains his first year of pharmacy school at the University of Maryland. Underestimating the dedication and discipline needed to be successful, DiStefano left the program after three semesters. 

Taking some time off, he realized he couldn’t give up on is dream of becoming a pharmacist. He credits staff and faculty at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy with giving him the confidence to give it another try. 

“When I applied to the VCU School of Pharmacy, I knew my application was going to be unique compared to others. I was able to actually have a one-on-one interview with Dean O and he really just made me feel like I would do well here. He was just very reassuring and letting me know that obstacles happen, failures happen, it’s what you do after you have that failure that really turns that into something.”

Now a third-year pharmacy student at VCU, DiStefano is not only thriving in the classroom but he is also the president of the VCU chapter of the Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists, helping fellow students reach their full potential.

Jalynn Mabry has worked hard for every credit received in her education. 

“Compared to other students, I’ve always been aware that I’ve had to kind of study a bit harder to understand the same material and that has been my entire life experience so pharmacy school is no different,” she says. 

Mabry’s resilience paired with hands-on experience has made her a successful student at the VCU School of Pharmacy. Introduced to the field through an internship at Kroger Pharmacy, she has since worked in a cardiologist office and the VCU catheterization lab. 

“A word of advice that I would give to rising students is to surround yourself with people in that field that you want to be in because I didn’t come from a family that were doctors or nurses or had a hand in the health-profession field,” she says. “So, I had to put myself in those spaces.”