During the 2016 APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Baltimore, I hit a lot of receptions, including the one hosted by West Virginia University, my alma mater. Their enthusiasm is infectious and always a motivator for me. 

Each year, I help some of the student pharmacists there attend our Annual Meeting through a scholarship that helps students “show up”—to me, one of the keys to sustained leadership is that one has to keep showing up! These folks are walking the walk!

Pictured here with me are front row, left to right: Mark Saulo, Emily Pierson*, Morgan Petite*, and R.J. Jacobs*; back row, left to right: Ivy Chao, Catalina Sanez*, and Lexi Nolan. Sara Mantick was there, but missed the photo. (*Indicates scholarship award recipient.)

My thanks to each of them, and to the thousands of student pharmacists who made the trip to Baltimore to share the experience and to make the case for getting pharmacists on the team and in the game in team-based care.