BROOKINGS – The daughter of Brookings educators Pam and Gary Larson proved to be the best student in the 2018 class of graduates from the SDSU College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions.

Alyssa Larson, a 2012 graduate of Brookings High School, was honored at the May 4 hooding ceremony for the 77 pharmacy grads from South Dakota State University.

Growing up in a family whose parents were teachers, the last thing Larson wanted to be was a teacher. Now, after four years of high school and six years of college, she thinks she has found her passion in teaching. “I thought I would never want to be a teacher, but I found I enjoy disseminating knowledge to other people,” said Larson, who was named the 2018 Distinguished Graduate.

She had several experiences at SDSU to teach.

After taking an anatomy class in the fall of her sophomore year (2013), she was selected to be an anatomy intern for the following spring semester. Only 25 of the 200 students who take the class are given the opportunity to co-instruct an anatomy laboratory section. Larson, of Brookings, considers it one of the highlights of her time at SDSU.

“It is when I developed a passion for teaching, which I didn’t think I would want to do,” Larson said.

The following year, when she was in her first year of professional pharmacy school, she participated in the pharmacy peer mentoring program for students in Pharmacy 101. Larson mentored four prepharmacy students. “We would come in and provide support to prepharmacy students, help grade their papers and assess them on presentations,” she said.

Kudos to high school teachers

Larson points to her high school science teachers and job shadowing as a prepharmacy student for creating her interest in becoming a pharmacist.

“I developed an interest in chemistry and biological sciences in high school. I had amazing teachers that instilled that passion in me. Kelly Riedell taught biology and zoology. Chad Chadwell taught chemistry, anatomy and physiology. I felt like I was ready to come into college and succeed from the get-go. But what really sold me (on pharmacy) was shadowing pharmacists,” Larson said.

She spent a couple hours at a time at the Hy-Vee pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy in Sioux Falls, and Sanford Hospital and hematology/oncology pharmacy.

Larson had another teaching experience this school year, when she came back to campus for a five-week academics and teaching rotation under Assistant Dean of Students Dan Hansen. She helped teach labs for students in the first and second year of pharmacy school, created a new lab activity and wrote exam questions. “It was one of the best rotations I’ve had,” Larson said.

She was also surprised by the amount of time it took to prepare an activity. “You thought it would just take an hour and it took all afternoon,” she said.

Of course, her parents – Pam, a teacher at Medary Elementary, and Gary, who retired in 2015 after 36 years with SDSU Department of Natural Resource Management – could have told her that.

Heavily involved in organizations

Among the criteria for selection as Distinguished Graduate is involvement in extramural professional activities. Larson was involved in Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity, Rho Chi Honor Society and American Pharmacists Association Academy of Student Pharmacists.

Through APhA-ASP, she was a member of the tobacco cessation committee. “We would go to elementary schools and do education on tobacco. The association provides a lot of great professional opportunities to build skills early in your career,” she said.

Kappa Psi provided an opportunity to build friendships with classmates. Rho Chi, which only accepts the top 20 percent of the class into its membership, was an easy choice for Larson. She holds a 4.0 GPA. “I’ve always been a little bit of a perfectionist,” she admitted.

Larson, a top student in high school also, said her interest in being involved in activities grew while she was in college.

Besides the pharmacy organizations, Larson spent three years with the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity and served two years as treasurer. In addition to working at fundraising events, Larson painted, assembled cabinets and worked at the Habitat ReStore.

Greatest lesson in pharmacy school

Like pharmacology, cabinet assembly was a new lesson for her. But she said the greatest lesson she learned while in pharmacy school was to be resilient.

“Even when going through the best years of life, you’re going to face some failure. I definitely faced that and I think all of my classmates would say the same. I didn’t get the first pharmacy job I applied for,” Larson explained. “Until that point, I hadn’t faced failure before. It caused me to reevaluate what I was doing. Rather than let it get me down, it provided me fuel to do better.”

Later in her P1 year, she got another pharmacy intern position and held it throughout her pharmacy education.

That education continues in July, when she begins a one-year, postgraduate residency at Regional Health in Rapid City “to refine the clinical knowledge and skills that I’ve gained.” Then? “I’m considering a second-year residency in a specialty, probably critical care. I will  know better after my first year.”

Then after that, at some point, there’s teaching.

Courtesy photo: Alyssa Larson, right, receives the mortar and pestle that is presented to the Distinguished Graduate from the SDSU College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions at the May 4 hooding ceremony. Making the presentation is Dean Jane Mort.