WCU Students Find Love While Earning Their PharmD Degrees

Alumni Spotlight: Hayk C. and Christine S.

Hayk C. and Christine S. both come from families with a background in medicine. In 2015, they each applied to the Doctor of Pharmacy program at West Coast University. Four years later, they graduated and began careers at different pharmacies in their community. Soon thereafter, in November 2021, they tied the knot.

As they settle into married life and their new careers, they recall how their relationship began during their time at WCU.

Christine said that when she met Hayk, he seemed mysterious and she wanted to learn his story. Hayk said he was a “go getter” by making the first move to get to know Christine during their first week of school.

“During orientation, she caught my eye,” Hayk said. “We started talking on the side and became friends. As we got to know each other more… we realized we really liked each other and it took off from there.”

Hayk added that their four-year PharmD program helped solidify their relationship. The couple got to know one another during early morning and post-class review sessions.

“We would meet to study together after school and it slowly became something more,” Christine said. Soon, the pharmacy students were seeing each other nearly every day while working toward their shared goal of becoming pharmacists.

“Most of the time we saw each other more than our family members,” Hayk said.

A Tight-Knit Community in the PharmD Program

Apart from their own relationship, they were also part of their small WCU class. With a cohort of around 60 students, Hayk said they formed small study groups to test one another, write study notes, and put their learning into practice. Christine called it a “big family.”

“We were very close. Especially since we were such a small class,” she said. “We also had a very close relationship with a lot of our professors, which was nice. We would meet with them and we would go over questions if we had trouble with anything.”

Although their relationship started during orientation, Hayk said the couple largely kept things private to avoid being the center of attention. However, he noted that one of his favorite memories at WCU was when the relationship became public.

“We kept it under the heat for a good four years and it was close to the end of us graduating that our classmates and professors caught on,” Hayk said. “They were very happy about it. A lot had a feeling but didn’t say anything. It made us happy that they were supportive of us being together.”

Now as a married couple, Hayk and Christine share that they are proud to be WCU alumni.

“We are just very grateful we got into the pharmacy program,” Hayk said. “The professors helped ease us through the program by always being there for us and helping us out in any way we needed them.”

Christine said she continues to uphold the integrity of the profession following her time at WCU.

“When you’re wearing that white coat, you are representing the profession,” she said. “You always want to wear it proudly.”

WCU provides career guidance and assistance but cannot guarantee employment. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or position of the school or of any instructor or student.