Students showcase diversity at Pharmacy’s got Talent

Himansh Bhatnagar / IC

Himansh Bhatnagar / IC

Areeba Shah, Associate Community Editor

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A night of impromptu performances and spontaneous dances were some of the highlights of this year’s Pharmacy’s Got Talent.

The University of Toledo’s Student National Pharmaceutical Association hosted the event April 14 from 6 - 9 p.m. in the Student Union Auditorium.

“What made this event so unique is that we welcomed anyone to perform even last-minute,” said Ami Mehta, a third-year graduate pharmacy student.

Mehta, the vice president of SNPhA, has been a part of the association since her first year and helped organize this year’s event.

Mehta said Pharmacy’s Got Talent is a diverse event intended to assemble different cultures to showcase the students’ talents.

“We asked students to perform for us to celebrate the month of diversity: April,” Mehta said.

This year’s performances included classical Indian dancing, Dabke and pharmacy students singing.

While the president of African People’s Association, Nnenna Kalu, taught members how to dance to African music, Filipino American Association members performed their traditional folk dance known as Tinikling.

In addition to free admission, free food was also served from a variety of different cultures.

“Last year we only had about 100 people,” said Keya Shah, a third-year graduate pharmacy student. “This year we had more than 200 people come in.”

SNPhA has been planning the event since the beginning of the spring semester. Mehta said, since they were only expecting 200 people, she was surprised when they were overbooked and even ended up running out of food.

Mehta said that SNPhA embraces diversity. The organization tries to implement diversity within the pharmacy students. SNpHA itself is very multicultural, as it includes members from various places, including India, Albania, Nigeria, Africa, Middle East and Greece, Mehta said.

Caren Steinmiller, an associate lecturer in the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences and one of SNPhA’s faculty advisers, said the event was well orchestrated and included a wide range of performances that represented all the different backgrounds.

“It was probably the biggest crowd that they have had yet at this event,” Steinmiller said.

She added that the students reached out to peer students from other pharmacy colleges and asked some of their SNPhA members to attend.

She believes Pharmacy’s Got Talent is a great way to celebrate the diversity in the college and have everyone show off what makes them unique and special.

“It’s so nice to see everybody come together and celebrate everybody for being who they are,” Steinmiller said.

She said she liked seeing her students support one another. Steinmiller added that this is SNPhA’s last event before the year ends and is one the executive board arranges.

Steinmiller shared she was very happy and loves to see everybody so proud of their heritage and background.

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Students showcase diversity at Pharmacy’s got Talent