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PharmD student survives tough times

by Mary Helen Yarborough
Public Relations
While life may not have been easy for Seung Yeo, PharmD, the bumpiest of paths leading to his pharmacy doctorate have directed him to some wonderful and inspiring people.
 
A nuclear pharmacist for Cardinal Health in Greensboro, N.C., Yeo receives his pharmacy doctorate from MUSC today. He said he plans to “pay it forward” and help others in tribute to God’s good grace and the generosity of those who have helped him along the way.
 
Seung Yeo, second from left, stands with Dr. Andrea Wessell, left, his classmate and friend, Thorne Young, and Dr. Kelly Ragucci, right. Yeo did rotations with Drs. Wessell and Ragucci and he describes them as two of the top professors in the school.

 Yeo’s life in America began in 1994. He was 14 when he left his hometown, Suwon, South Korea, to pursue a better life. But money was tight, and Yeo’s prospects looked bleak.
 
“It has been a struggle for me financially since day one,” Yeo said. “My parents sent me here to get a good education, but soon after I arrived here, they were not able to financially support me financially.”
 
Living with distant relatives that supported him, he attended junior and senior high school in Rock Hill and, with the help of a scholarship, attended the College of Charleston, earning a bachelor's degree in biology.
 
When he went to college, he was facing high out-of-state tuition, which is the rate that international students pay. A scholarship helped him attend the College of Charleston at in-state rates. He later received a scholarship to help pay for his MUSC education.
 
“I also had a lot of limitations since I am considered an international student,” Yeo said. “I am not eligible to work anywhere except on campus at college or MUSC. And I am not eligible to apply for student loans through the government.”
 
The kindness and inspiration of newfound friends helped Yeo get through the financial restraints, all the while forming deep, special ties to his “American” family.
 
“Other people helped me financially,” Yeo said, notably Mary and Don Burkard, both of whom work at the College of Charleston. The Burkards also had adopted two children from Korea who now are high school and college graduates.
 
“They are just great,” Yeo said. “They have been like my family. I’ve known them for eight years. He is my mentor. They were basically like my parents, who pushed me to go further and to get through the tough times.”
 
The Burkards, who “understood how hard I worked,” helped Yeo obtain a student loan. Then, the couple introduced him to Mrs. Burkard’s 80-year-old mother, Phylis Knoerl, who lived in Mount Pleasant. He stayed there rent-free, and tended to light duties around the house. “I would help with the yard and stuff, but there was no trade-off. There is no way I could trade for all they did for me,” he said. “We’ve become so close. She [Mrs. Knoerl] is an amazing lady. There are no words to describe it.”
 
Yeo also credits two of his professors, Andrea Wessell, PharmD, and Kelly Ragucci, PharmD, along with many other professors, for inspiring him to persevere.
 
“Their rotations were not easy at all,” he said. “They challenged you. They encouraged me to become a better pharmacist.”
 
Now, Yeo wants to do for others what so many have done for him.
 
“Looking back I do not consider myself an unfortunate person who had hardship to get to where I am, but I consider myself fortunate for the life lessons I learned,” he said, “You never know who you’re going to come across in life. You don’t dismiss them and think only of yourself. That’s not the way it goes.”
 
Meanwhile, Yeo said he wants to stay in the United States, eventually teach, and currently is working on getting a green card, which, “is a very long process.”
 
“I am here in spite of many limitations and hardships I faced since my college days,” Yeo said. “I am not proud because I am graduating with a professional degree, but rather I am humbled and thankful for the provision and grace from God. People may question if God actually gave me money, etc. Obviously, the answer is ‘no.’ Rather, God crossed my path with the paths of many Godly and loving people, who provided for me, shared with me, sacrificed for me, and loved me. The list is endless.
 
“To put it simply, what I learned over the years is ‘pay it (what God has blessed me with) forward.’ I am not to simply take and take, and receive and receive. God blessed me with a profession that I can have an impact on other people’s health, but also with financial security which I have never had that I may share that with others that cross my path.”

   

Friday, May 19, 2006
Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publication at 849-1778, ext. 201.