Thursday 17 December 2020 11:11am
Pharmacy graduate Becks Mercer and Stewardship Officer Kellie Bain.
Becks Mercer was tired of being told what she couldn’t do.
After struggling at school as a result of undiagnosed dyslexia, she found herself drifting in her early 20s.
But instead of accepting her fate, she decided to make some changes.
“I was sitting in bed one night and I was thinking there's got to be more for me out there. I didn't want to give up on my education, I wanted to try again. And I thought, ‘Ok this is my last shot I'm going to give it all I've got’.
“They’ve just been incredible. I really can’t say it enough how thankful I am for the help and support the whole way through. It feels like I'm not dyslexic any more, I'm not hindered by that.”
“I'm going to go to university, I'm going to go to foundation year, and I'll see how that goes. And if that works. I'll go to health science.”
That determination will reach its fulfilment on 12 December when Becks graduates with a Bachelor of Pharmacy with Distinction and realises her dream of becoming a health professional.
It has been a challenging path, grappling to shrug off the negativity of a school education where she was labelled “stupid and distracted” to emerge as an individual who believed in herself.
“I always wanted to be a hospital pharmacist. But obviously I felt like those dreams were unattainable given my schooling life and my inability to pass exams and things like that. I thought something was wrong with me.”
Being diagnosed with dyslexia gave her an insight into the root of those struggles and the confidence to believe she could achieve with the right support systems in place.
After deciding to study at Otago, Becks met with Rebecca McFadyen and Melissa Lethaby at Disability Information and Support.
“I got all those support systems in place like reader/writers and private tutors - all these mechanisms to help me learn - and I basically finished that year with As. For the first time I completed some form of qualification with flying colours which was really cool.”
The next step was Health Sciences First Year. Receiving a University of Otago Donna-Rose McKay Entrance Scholarship valued at $6,000 helped ease the pressure and allow Becks to focus solely on her studies.
Even so it was a difficult year, especially with very little background in sciences.
“Every time I wanted to give up all I could think about was all the past negativity . . . I kind of channelled it into working harder.”
But she made it through the year, was accepted into Pharmacy and and is now preparing to start work as a hospital pharmacist.
“A lot of people think it’s just pill popping but pharmacists monitor patients’ labs, do pain management, help patients post op and find new drugs treatments for rare diseases.
“That for me was a selling point, that I can actually do so much for patients and healthcare, not only at a community level but in a tertiary setting in the hospital. Pharmacy is changing to be more clinical and patient focussed so I think it's quite an exciting area.”
Reflecting on her time at Otago, Becks says she had considered other universities, but Otago’s level of disabilities support was what prompted her final decision.
“They’ve just been incredible. I really can’t say it enough how thankful I am for the help and support the whole way through. It feels like I'm not dyslexic any more, I'm not hindered by that.”
She just hopes more people with disabilities elect to study Health Sciences.
“I just want students to know that there is a way to get through. We're missing a whole population of people that could be out there being health professionals.”