I am proud to present to you a student who comes very highly recommended by many of his class mates, Student Government, and the Dean of our college, Dolores Straker. He is witty, charismatic, intelligent, and overall, a great leader for the student body. Afshin Taleghani, our Feature Student for this issue, has taken the honor to a whole new level. Originally, Afshin was planning to go to the Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute to major in Biomedical Engineering, but, due to family circumstances, he could not move away and enrolled in RWC in the Autumn of 2001.
When he started here, he thought of himself as a little fish in an enormous pond. He did not know anyone, nor was he involved in any activities. After a couple of quarters, he had made many friends, including Tim Bentley, who was the Student Body President at the time. Bentley informed him about how he attended Undergraduate Student Senate meetings at main campus and everything he did for RWC. Afshin felt the need to be a part of this. He started going to Student Senate meetings with Bentley, and the more he got involved, the more he really wanted to be a part of a Student Organization.
After a month or two, he joined Student Government as a member and was later appointed Senator. After about two months, he became the Treasurer for Student Government and saw that the current leadership was struggling because of personal matters, so he decided to run for President. He was elected to serve as Student Body President this year.
“I can’t imagine doing anything else that would serve the college better, as a student,” he said.
At the University Award Ceremony, Afshin received the Spirit of Community Award. And last year, during the Student Awards’ Ceremony at RWC, he received the following awards: Student Government Member of the Year; Outstanding Service Award; Who’s Who Among American Junior Colleges; and Student Government Member of the Quarter Award.
He graduated last year and received an Associate of Arts in Pre-Pharmacy and applied to graduate school at UC this year.
“I had an interview with the College of Pharmacy for entrance into the Doctor of Pharmacy program on January 18, and I am on pins and needles waiting for them to get back to me.”
Afshin currently works at CVS Pharmacy in Norwood as a Certified Pharmacy Technician, and, for the past two years, his employment with them has left him with no doubt that pharmacy is what he wants to do with the rest of his life.
“I hope to one day work as a clinical pharmacist and also teach Pharmacology at a University.”
On behalf of the student newspaper staff, we would like to wish Afshin all the luck for his future in pharmacology.