By Shirley Shuman
Emily Metheney, daughter of Ryan and Follandi Shaver, plans to become a pharmacist. She explained how she chose pharmacy. “I had considered doing nursing,” she said, “but it takes up a lot of time and it’s hard to schedule.” She added, “I chose pharmacy because I’d like the environment of pharmacy better than nursing. It’s more slow-paced.”
Her interest in a medical career may have developed from the number of health care classes she has taken. Of those, she especially enjoyed clinicals because the students “get to see things done and also get to participate,” she noted. It isn’t surprising to learn that Linda Brooks, the health care teacher at the high school is her favorite teacher. “I had her for four years and really enjoy the way she teaches her classes,” the senior explained.
To achieve her goal, Metheney will attend Glenville State University for her basic classes and then finish her degree at Marshall University as GSU and MU have partnered on a pharmacy program. She chose to begin at Glenville because “it’s close to home” and she likes “the small environment.”
During her high school career, Metheney has been quite active. She belongs to HOSA, the National Honor Society, and FBLA. She recently qualified to compete at the national FBLA convention. She also played volleyball all four years of high school. During her free time, Metheny enjoys hanging out with friends and family although her parttime work at Kroger limits her free time.
Asked what has impacted her education the most, Metheny, as did many of her classmates, answered, “The pandemic.” She explained why. “It was a big change,” she said. “We switched from in-class to online, and that made it more difficult to get motivated to do our work. We also did not learn as much as we would have in class. However, we did the best we could with what we were given.”
One response which Metheny gave quickly was to what impressed her the most during high school. “When the boys made the states and we sent them off with a parade and in a special bus,” she answered.
