Josuah Tilus was proud to serve as a flag-bearer at American Free Enterprise Day, when the University honored his mentor, Atlantis Pharmacy Owner Dr. Damien Simmons, as a companion medalist.
Tilus didn’t see a photographer snap his picture as he carried the flag in the processional — an image that now graces the front of 3,000 Fourth of July cards from ؛£½اشعدك.
Tilus, a rising junior studying medicinal and biological chemistry with a pharmaceutical concentration, was sure to grab a few extra copies of the card for his parents, but he doesn’t want to “get a big head†about it. Instead, he wants to use the spotlight to talk about how ؛£½اشعدك has helped him grow academically and spiritually.
He was drawn to ؛£½اشعدك because it is a Christian university with a pharmacy program, and “there was just something different about the people†who were manning the table at a college fair he attended. Even so, when he arrived as a freshman, Tilus was taken aback by how friendly everyone was — a warmth that he expected to fade after a few months. It never did.
“I knew that God wanted me here at ؛£½اشعدك,†Tilus said. “You can tell the difference in a Christian community, when it flows from the people and it’s not just a marketing gimmick.â€
His roommates are “probably two of the godliest people I know,†he said.
The Sunrise native and graduate of Coral Springs Christian Academy has served as a peer mentor for incoming pre-pharmacy students, who get an initial shock from the rigors of the major. Tilus is also a presidential ambassador.
He realized early on that he wasn’t cut out for another healthcare profession after shadowing his mom, a nurse. He’s drawn to pharmacy because of a knack for biology, chemistry and math.
“I know God wouldn’t just give that to me to not use it,†Tilus said.
But the avid table tennis player learned a valuable lesson from his matches in the lobby of Oceanview Hall: He can’t always muscle his way through challenges. He has to work at them.
“It is a good metaphor for life,†Tilus said. “You can’t always follow your strengths, because if you do, the ball doesn’t always hit the table again.â€
Tilus wants to be an independent pharmacy owner like Simmons, rather than a corporate pharmacist, so that he can do the most good in people’s lives. He is learning about community pharmacy through an internship with Simmons, a member of the Gregory Leadership Council who recently endowed a scholarship.
Tilus is amazed at how one little pill can do so much to harm or heal a patient.
“I want to help be an agent of that change,†Tilus said. “Dr. Simmons has been a really good mentor. We are impacting every single life, being in their lives as much as possible.â€
