Greetings from your Grand Vice President for Collegiates!

Now that summer is almost upon us, I want to personally thank all of our wonderful LKS Collegiate Chapters for a prosperous and successful 2014-2015 academic year. I look forward to the year ahead and cannot wait to start working with all of our new chapter officers. I would also like to extend my warmest congratulations to our 2015 graduates and am eager to work with you as fellow alumni.

I'm excited about summer for many reasons, including warm weather, pool time, outdoor activities and, one of my most favorite summer events, the LKS Annual Convention! I hope that many of you have plans to attend the 2015 LKS Annual Convention in St. Louis, Missouri, July 29-August 1. 

Alpha Zeta Chapter is hard at work preparing for your arrival! I certainly look forward to reconnecting with familiar faces and to meeting as many new lambs as possible. Attendance at Convention plays a role in Chapter of the Year scores so be sure to send attendees from your chapter to better your score! You will also not want to miss this opportunity to learn from the successes and challenges of other chapters and to bring ideas back to share with your chapter. It is sure to be another Convention to remember, and I hope to see you in St. Louis!

As you begin to make plans for the next semester over the next few months, always remember that you can contact your Region Supervisors for assistance. If you have any questions or need suggestions on anything from how to improve your Chapter of the Year standing or how to better manage your chapter, we are all here for you.

I hope you all enjoy this edition of LinKS. 

Afton Y. Wagner, PharmD
Grand Vice President for Collegiates
LAMB 4 LIFE

In November 2014, February 2015 and May 2015, we held three webinars in the Lamb TaLKS live webinar series that were presented by Alpha Collegiate Chapter.

The presentations were focused on chapter obligations, fraternity structure and recruitment and orientation. Kudos to Alpha Chapter for Lambtastic presentations!

Learn more about the topic of fundraising for Project HOPE in this article written by Northeastern Region Supervisor, Christina Inteso.

If you wish to contribute articles pertaining to Professional Development, please email your article to me at afton.m.wagner@gmail.com.

Job Description: PGY1 pharmacy resident at the Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, PA. Soon to be PGY2 ambulatory care resident at St. Louis College of Pharmacy in St. Louis, MO.

What was your chapter of initiation and/or alumni chapter? I was initiated into the Alpha Phi collegiate chapter at Wilkes University in Fall 2010 and am now a member of the Alpha Phi Alumni Chapter.

How has LKS contributed to your leadership skills and experience? LKS has provided me with numerous opportunities that have allowed me to become a better leader. I've also had the opportunity to meet so many great LKS alumni members that have their own leadership styles and unique set of experiences. 

What LKS positions have you held as an alumni? Alpha Phi Alumni Chapter President and Women's Health Issues committee member.

What advice would you give to students about navigating his/her pharmacy career path? Take every opportunity that presents itself! Whether it's working with new people, finding your passion in pharmacy or even realizing that an experience wasn't what you thought it would be, you never know where that opportunity may take you. Figuring out what you don't want to do is just as important as figuring out what you do want to do. Your career will be shaped by your experiences--both good and bad. So take all of the opportunities you can while you're a student and let them help shape your future.

What do you do in your spare time? What's a fun fact? As a resident, my spare time is relatively limited! My goal for 2014 was to try a new Pinterest recipe once a month, but that only lasted a few months. Hopefully I'll have better luck in 2015! I love traveling, meeting new people and trying new things, so I'm super excited to be moving to a brand new city in July. For a fun fact, on what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation to St. Kitts, I ended up doing a 6-mile hike up a volcano through a rain forest. Less than half way up, it started monsooning! Let's just say that made for quite a story while trying something new!