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Though Karissa Kindlon-Ballas was pursuing a different career at the time, her connection to the Pharmacy Building in Johnson City made her application to 91����’s School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SOPPS) seem like fate.

“This building actually opened this same year that I graduated dental hygiene school — my husband even worked on it! At the time, he was working at a company that does countertops, hoods, and cabinetry as a carpenter. He worked on lot of the labs,” said the fourth-year PharmD student.

A nontraditional pupil in many ways, Kindlon-Ballas is married, has two children, and had already entered the dental hygiene field after earning her degree from SUNY Broome Community College (BCC). But after a few years, she realized the role was hard on her body and she was ready for a change — so she applied to SOPPS because of its multidisciplinary nature.

“Pharmacy is multifaceted. It’s not just math, it’s not just science, it’s not just relationships with people. It’s all those things,” Kindlon-Ballas said. “I’ve always been a people-forward person, but I get to be a little bit of all those things. And you can’t stop learning in pharmacy. There’s so much to know; I think that’s part of why I came back to school to begin with. I want to know as much as I can all the time.”

Though she moved a lot as a kid — she attended seven different school districts in the Capital District growing up — Kindlon-Ballas’ spirit to learn always flourished. Even as an adult, it was the driving factor to her application, though the support she received from both her family and the admissions team cemented the deal in the long run.

“I had such a tremendous amount of help. The admissions team really helped me understand what it took to get into the program. I was still working full time and trying to do online classes for prerequisites,” she said. “I can also say that I have the most supportive husband and mother-in-law in the world. It’s been a juggle, but they step in.”

And she’s paid that support back tenfold as an exceptional student who works to make SOPPS an accessible place for everyone. Within reason, she said, she tries to get involved whenever she can, from joining the e-board of Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) or Strategic Planning Committees to working as a mentor, tutor, and student ambassador.

“Being an ambassador came easily, because I genuinely love this school. Trying to convince other people to come here — and getting paid for doing that — is a dream. I could talk about this school forever,” Kindlon-Ballas said. “As a mentor, I did a lot of the PY2 cohort interviews; I gave them tours of the school. I’ve gotten to see that from the ground up. And now I’m helping them on this academia rotation, where I’m in their simulations. It’s been such a cool journey.”

Now, as she prepares for graduation, Kindlon-Ballas is reflecting on her past four years while looking to the future. After making some of her closest friends in the program and creating lifelong memories thanks to the realistic simulations and rigorous training, she hopes to graduate and pass her North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX). Then she can explore the opportunities available, such as a psychology-focused position or a board certification.

She’s even considered returning to dental hygiene school — as the teacher this time — for a course in pharmacology.

“I would love to go back to BCC and teach a class and be able to take the knowledge from both sides and make it make sense for those dental hygiene students who were in my shoes,” Kindlon-Ballas said. “But no matter where I end up, I want to precept. That’s the main goal, the first goal.”

Her interest in precepting falls back on the support she’s received as a student herself. As pharmacists become more integrated into the community, she wants to be the unique perspective that allows students to be comfortable, confident, and successful.

“The preceptors who’ve made this environment so open have made me a better student pharmacist. They have shown interest in me, encouraged me to be so much better for myself and for patient care,” she said. “If I can encourage those who are going to be up and coming in the same way, that’s great for our whole community. If I can help build that trust by helping those coming after me, that’s huge.”