Teacher and Brewer: Kari McCarthy

Kari McCarthy, Class of 2006, Waterbury, CT

What are you up to? I’m currently living in Waterbury, married, and I just had my first child. I have been a science teacher for 8 years. I’m currently teaching 7th grade science in Woodbury.

How'd you get here? Life came full circle. I wrote in my Senior year book that my ambition was to be a science teacher and that’s exactly what I did. I went to CCSU and got my Bachelors in Earth Science (Geology) and my Masters+ credits in education at the University of Bridgeport. I was able to move to my current teaching job in Woodbury because of my internship. A lot of my career path moved forward because of one person that I met, who led me to my job in Fairfield and then to my job in Woodbury.

What are your goals? My husband and I are in the works of owning and operating our own brewery. We are avid home brewers and we are now looking to open our own place. I love the science behind brewing! I loved teaching (emphasis on the past tense). I had made up my mind in high school that I wanted to be a teacher. I did it. Loved it. But now I want more for my life. Now that I’m “adulting” and seeing life as it really is, teaching is not so much for me. I’m looking to do something that will make a greater impact in my life. My husband and I feel that we can impact the community through our business and that’s what really excites me today!

If you could tell your high school self one thing, what would it be? You don’t need to decide what the rest of your life looks like right now. If you know, then pursue it and pursue it to your greatest capacities. If you don’t, that’s okay too, explore and experiment, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t settle! (Both personally and professionally!)

Pharma Life: Jennifer Donato

Jennifer Donato, Class of 2011, Nottingham, MD

What are you up to? At this moment, I will be starting my career as a clinical pharmacist at Frederick Memorial Hospital in Frederick, MD and will be taking an exam to transfer my Connecticut Pharmacist License to Maryland so I can practice in the state of Maryland.

How'd you get here? I graduated from the University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy in May 2018. A short month and a half later, I started my post graduate year one (PGY1) pharmacy residency at St. Vincent's Medical Center (SVMC) in Bridgeport, CT. During residency I gained a ton of experience in different areas of clinical pharmacy within the hospital. After 3 months had gone by, I had to decide what I wanted to do when this residency program was over. In November/December 2018 I had decided to apply to various hospitals across the country for a post graduate year 2 (PGY2) pharmacy residency program in critical care. While applying to the various hospitals, I could tell my heart was not in it although I loved my critical care and emergency medicine rotations at SVMC. I did not receive any interviews from the programs I had applied to and not only did I notice but my mentor at SVMC had noticed I was not heart broken over the rejections. With the help from my mentor, I had decided to finish residency with a positive attitude and see where life would take me. And that's when I decided to move to Maryland when residency was over to start my career and my life too, since my boyfriend was already residing there.

What are your goals? My future goals are to become a board certified pharmacist in pharmacotherapy and to continue to grow as a clinical pharmacist.

Jennifer Donato, 2011, Oakville, CT - January 17, 2018

What are you up to? Currently, I am in my last year of pharmacy school at the University of Saint Joseph School of Pharmacy in Downtown Hartford. This program is unlike a traditional pharmacy school where you do 2 years of pre-pharmacy and 4 years of pharmacy; instead at USJ SOP, you must received a bachelors degree prior to being accepted and then do 3 full calendar years of pharmacy. I am also in the process of applying to pharmacy residency programs.

How'd you get here? After graduating from WHS, I attended at the University of Bridgeport and received my bachelors of science in health sciences. Unlike a lot of people who I knew in high school, I knew that I wanted to do something in the healthcare profession, specifically pharmacy. So during my time at UB, I took prerequisites for pharmacy school, along with your general education courses, and courses in health sciences. It was super stressful applying to pharmacy school because I had to maintain a pretty high GPA in order to be competitive, my personal statement needed to be unique, and if the school was interested in me, I had to go through an interview process. And as a young adult at the time, I had never had to go through a professional interview. While going to school, I also had a part time job at ShopRite Pharmacy in Southbury. This job really solidified the fact that I wanted to go to pharmacy school and become a pharmacist. By March 2015, I knew I was accepted into USJ SOP and was excited to continue on the journey towards a rewarding career.

What are your goals? My goals for the future is to become a clinical pharmacist in a hospital. I would love to be board certified in critical care, where I can work in an ICU. This would require me to do two years of residency.

What has been your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge was during my junior year of college. At UB they have a contract with UCONN where I could apply to their pharmacy school and I'd be looked at as a UCONN student rather than an outsider applying to their program. At the time, I did apply, but unfortunately did not get an interview. Although this may not seem like a challenge to most, I was devastated and had to decide whether or not I wanted to try again the following year and earn a bachelors degree as well. If this didn't happen to me, I wouldn't be where I am today.

What has been your happiest moment? My happiest moment was this past September/October. I was in Arizona/New Mexico for school, working at Gallup Indian Medical Center. This hospital is for Navajo Native Americans who live on the reservation. They are underserved and struggle everyday. At this hospital, there are pharmacy run clinics where the pharmacists see the patients and change medication therapy depending on what clinic the pharmacist is working in. The clinics ranges from diabetes to asthma clinic, as well as anticoagulation (blood thinner) clinic to HIV clinic. I also had the opportunity to live on the reservation. It was definitely a culture shock. There is nothing for miles around and some people are still live without running water or electricity. It was a meaningful experience to understand how the Navajo people live. On a positive note, I did get to do some traveling and see parts of the United States that I didn't think I would ever be able to see.

Advice for WHS Students? If you know what you want to do right out of high school, go for it! It might not be easy and you may not succeed right away, but in the end it will be worth it. Work hard and don't let others bring you down for wanting to do something different. This is your life and you only get one of them.

If you could tell your high school self one thing, what would it be? Confidence is something that you gain over time.

Success, One Step At A Time: Allison Tortorici

Allison Tortorici , 2009, Waterbury, CT

What are you up to? I am currently working part time at Marshalls in Watertown and attending Post University’s online program. I am finishing my bachelor’s in Psychology after I was forced to drop put of UConn in 2011. I live with my boyfriend and my cat in a condo that we rent. I lead an average life that doesn’t sound like anything exciting, but I’ve come to appreciate stability and the simplicities of life.

How'd you get here? When I graduated from Watertown High in 2009, I chose the traditional path of going to college. I had always been a smart person and school came very easy to me. I was always told “You are so smart, you can do whatever you want!” I had always had a passion for helping those struggling with mental illness. For me, psychology was the only option for my future career. Unfortunately, in 2010, I began experiencing symptoms of Schizophrenia. In the matter of a week my whole world came crashing down. I was hospitalized and completely lost touch with reality. It was the scariest experience of my life and I completely lost my confidence. Once I regained control of my mind, depression set in. My intelligence and drive didn’t matter, I felt I was failing at life. I had to drop out of school and temporarily leave my full time job. At one point, my illness became so unbearable that I entered a program where I resided for 7 months. There, I learned coping skills to manage my anxiety and symptoms which helped me greatly when reentering the world. I also met the love of my life in the program and we have been together for 5 years now. My story is not of a glamorous career or a super successful job. For me, my success is measured in how far I have come mentally. Being able to manage a daily living was something I thought I’d never accomplish, but here I am, managing a part time job, my home, and school.

What are your goals? My goal for the future are to, in a small way, break down the stigma surrounding mental illness. Schizophrenia can happen to anyone, and symptoms go unnoticed until young adult years (how convenient, right?). Right now I am focusing on getting my bachelor’s degree so I can work with others suffering from mental illness. When it comes to the brain, so much is unknown, and inability to control your brain is the most terrifying phenomenon. I hope that I can help just one person, in any way, that is dealing with a family member with mental illness, or struggling with mental illness themselves. I believe our purpose in life is to help one another, and those suffering from a disease that they can’t control need an enormous amount of help. Eventually, I’d like to become an APRN and own my own practice, but for now I am taking one small step at a time.

What has been your biggest challenge? My biggest challenge in life has been accepting my illness for what it is, and moving forward. I spent so much time comparing myself to former alumni I had grown up with but our lives weren’t comparable. Social media can cause a lot of doubt because we are constantly only posting the good in our lives. I finally am able to accept where I am in life, and appreciate how far I’ve come. I am thankful for my illness because it caused me to refocus my life and regain my passion for psychology. It is a beautiful thing to appreciate the chaos that has shaped you.

What has been your happiest moment? My happiest moment was moving into our condo with my boyfriend. It sounds corny but when we met we were at the lowest points in our lives. Creating a stable and happy home for us has been the best part of my life thus far.

Advice for WHS Students: My advice for WHS students would be to not give up when your life doesn’t go as planned. I thought my life would be simple! Go to college, graduate, get a job, etc. We can’t plan for what life has in store for us so just go with it! It may not be what you wanted or how you planned for things to go, but it is your life. It is your story. Own it and learn from every curveball life throws at you.

If you could tell your high school self one thing, what would it be? Don’t stress about everything! Everything works out the way it is supposed to. Let go and have faith.