Boy, am I happy to get back from spring break. How I missed worrying about tests, waking up early and experiencing Minnesota weather. Whoever decided to make a pharmacy conference in California was clearly very misguided. Not only was San Diego a terrible location for a conference, but my travels to other areas of the state reminded me of all of its other flaws that caused me to leave there in the first place. A picture (or 26 pictures) is worth 1000 words, so that seems to be the most efficient way to chronicle the absolute WORST spring break of my life. I’ll show you why you should never attend a pharmacy conference, visit California, or make the biggest mistake of all to go to a pharmacy conference IN California. Photo credit to Abdi Bile, and my excellent travel companions Eric Berg and Swetha Pradeep.
1. The views from hotels in California are atrocious, especially in San Diego
2. The weather forces events to be outside. Instead of getting a nice room for the leadership reception, we had to be out on a deck overlooking the water. Terrible, just terrible.
U of Mn COP at the leadership reception in which faculty member Dr. Brian Isetts received the prestigious Hubert Humphrey Award
3. There is absolutely no chance for networking at pharmacy conferences
Abdi Bile, future president-elect of MPSA and photographer of many of these images, with Dean Speedie
4. It is basically impossible to become friends with pharmacy students from the opposite campus when you are stuck in a conference.
First years at the Minnesota Night Reception from both the Duluth and Twin Cities campuses
5. There is seldom free food at conferences, and when there is, it sucks.
6. No one from Minnesota is ever recognized for anything
Congrats to Lindsey Kubina for winning the patient counseling competition!
7. The plants aren’t interesting at all.
8. There are way too many non-picturesque towns you have to stop in for lunch
San Clemente, CA
9. Driving is super boring when you just have to go through towns no one has ever heard of
10. There is absolutely nowhere without traffic to take a nice run or walk
11. The aquariums, especially Monterey Bay Aquarium, don’t have any cool fish
12. Everyone in California hates Harry Potter
13. All the landscape is dry and ugly
Muir Woods National Monument
14. San Francisco is always foggy
15. Some redwood trees can ONLY fit two people inside
16. There is absolutely nowhere to find any European influence (or Danish pancakes!) in California
Solvang, California
17. California is so unoriginal; it’s as if it is stealing its landscape from Apple
18. There are random castles off the highway. SO out of place.
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19. It is basically impossible to find local wine to buy
20. There is no water due to the drought
Vernal Falls in Yosemite
21. It is impossible to find other Minnesotans
22. There are only 399 colleges to choose from
23. There are no hiking trails
24. Wildlife is non-existent
25. It is impossible to fulfill your child-like sense of wonder
26. California is so unwelcoming. It’s as if it doesn’t want me to go back again in 2017 for another pharmacy conference.
I hope you could tell this was completely sarcastic. Thank you to everyone who made this trip the best spring break ever, and I hope to see you at Apha in 2017 in San Francisco!
2nd Year
3rd Year Student
3rd Year Student
