Keyword: Prepared

When August Troccia sat in Anatomy and Physiology as an aspiring pharmacist at St. John Fisher, he felt confident and prepared. Moreso, he suspects, than many of his classmates who started at colleges other than SUNY Corning Community College.

“Many of them came from larger schools,” said August. “When they wanted to ask a question, there would be 100 students waiting in line to do the same thing. At Corning, I had a professor’s full attention. I didn’t have to worry about a line of students rushing the professor through my answer.”

Today, August is paying it forward. He gives that same personal attention to his patients. He started his career working at a pharmacy in a retail setting and currently works as the pharmacist at the Elmira Psychiatric Center. In this role, he tracks the patient from admission to discharge, working on different issues each day.

“I am the last line of impact,” said August. “In the units I teach about different pharmaceutical topics, discuss aspects of the various medications patients are prescribed, and explain mental health issues and concerns. It’s an amazing daily reminder about the reach that this profession can truly have.”

August enrolled at SUNY CCC in 2008 after graduating from Horseheads High School. It was an easy decision, he said, for two reasons.

“Financially it made sense,” said August. “It doesn’t make sense to pay more for something than you have to. Corning’s classes are the same or better quality than I could find anywhere else. I worked full-time while I studied so I didn’t have to borrow any money.”

The second reason: All of the credits he earned at SUNY CCC transferred. August lined up his course-work so that all of the pharmacy pre-req coursework was done by the time he arrived at St. John Fisher.

“If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I wouldn’t change a thing,” said August.