Why pharmacy.
When Alan started at Barry University, his life revolved around a pool. Early morning practices six days a week, late-night study sessions, and a routine scheduled down to the minute. That structure led him toward nursing at first — a dependable path, but one that never truly clicked.
In a physiology lab, watching how pH shifts altered enzyme reaction rates in stomach acid, something clicked. For others it was routine. For Alan, it was the spark that redirected him toward biochemistry and eventually pharmacy.
A family friend and pharmacist, Peter Ganio, became a mentor who shaped that curiosity into direction. Working alongside him at Walgreens, Alan saw that pharmacy was far more than filling prescriptions — it was leading a team with precision, solving problems under pressure, and guiding patients through uncertainty with both knowledge and empathy.
As he spent more time behind the counter, the chemistry behind patient care became impossible to ignore. Every reaction, every compound, every dosage adjustment had real implications. The concepts he studied as a biochemistry major could translate directly into better patient outcomes — making pharmacy feel like the perfect integration of science and service.