Joelle Odigie’s passion and enthusiasm for pharmaceutical science were ingrained in her since childhood as the daughter of two pharmacists.
It also had a personal impact on the Baltimore native as she saw first-hand the importance of receiving proper medical treatment as a 13-year-old.
“Originally, what led me to get into pharmaceutical science is that my grandfather came to visit us and he is from Nigeria,” she said. “He always had diabetes, and when he (visited us), his diabetes got progressively worse. He didn’t get any of his medication because he wasn’t getting treated back at home in Nigeria.
“So, when he left and went back home, he (ended) up passing away (due) to his diabetes and that intrigued me about (the) drugs used to help people maintain these diseases. So, I really got interested in drug design. … (My parents) really led me and pushed me to the direction to see that we can help minorities like us.”
That enthusiasm and drive also led to the now second-year UMES pharmacy student applying for the position of national President-Elect for the Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA).
“SNPhA is one of the only organizations that speaks to me because they focus on serving the underserved and our minority populations,” Odigie said. “So, me doing things in school that catered to that purpose such as mentoring the incoming students, really spoke to me and made me say, ‘Ok Joelle, how can we make things go on a bigger level?’ ‘How can we put our school on the map?’ So, I said, ‘you know what? Let me apply and see what happens.’”
Odigie went through an interview process with members of the organization and with the SNPhA nomination committee to state her case for the position. The exercise was one that allowed her to challenge herself and expand her horizons.
“The No. 1 (thing) that (this experience) gave me was that I am extremely afraid of public speaking,” she said. “But I think that what it gave me was the power to see that even though somebody might be afraid of doing anything, that you should put yourself out there because you never know what will come of the result.”
As part of her campaign, Odigie worked on a social media campaign with the help of her friend and third-year pharmacy student Ashley Che. The crusade featured traditional social media efforts and an Instagram live-stream session in which Odigie showed one of her favorite passions – baking.
“I ended up baking blueberry muffins. They came out like little swirls and stuff, so it was cute,” Odigie said. “And it was a nice fun experience for me to talk and engage with other fellow SNPhA members and even family and friends that were interested in seeing my goals and visions for me to move SNPhA.”
Although Odigie did not receive the national honor of becoming president-elect, she was selected to be the chair of the organizational initiative, “Project Keepsake,” which focuses on implementing programs and projects related to increased awareness of health disparities in chronic kidney disease.
Odigie said she hopes that being able to break out of her shell and put her fears aside can be an inspiration to others.
“If I can do it, you can do it,” she said. “Whether it’s pharmacy or engineering, whether it’s mechanical, whether it’s computers … anything. Anybody can be able to do anything and make the biggest impact.”
