Pharmacy student reflects on winning Schorr Family Foundation scholarship

Third-year pharmacy student (P3) Felix Aung recently learned he is the recipient of the Schorr Family Foundation PharmD Scholarship. The Schorr family has been an integral part of the Binghamton area for decades and has continued to help other students, like Aung, with scholarships in recent years.

Larry Schorr ’75, MA ’77, LLD ’09, and Jenny Schorr, MBA ’81, created the Schorr Family Foundation, which has helped fund both a scholarship for PharmD students and MS Pharmaceutical Sciences students. Both of these scholarships were established in memory of Max and Sarah Schorr.

Aung, a Binghamton native, was excited to win the scholarship, but he also admitted he had mixed feelings at first.

“I felt like people I knew in the school were more deserving of the scholarship,” he said. “But I was so excited! I remember receiving the email and immediately sitting up from my desk chair to share the good news with my mom and dad.”

While the scholarship will help him financially, Aung also shared that it is definitely a confidence booster.

“Winning this scholarship also eases my imposter syndrome and encourages me to stay on track in striving for excellence in my endeavors,” he said. “The scholarship also validates the work I’ve put into my education, and it reinforces the responsibility I feel to give back to patients and the community.”

Aung said he will use this scholarship to offset a portion of the student loans he owes for his tuition expenses. That, in turn, will help him focus fully on his academic and professional development.

When it comes to his goals and future plans, Aung has an interest in infectious disease and cardiology, with a leaning toward the latter.

“I have an interest in pursuing a PGY1 to gain the clinical experience necessary to be an educator in academia one day — who knows, maybe I’ll be a future Binghamton School of Pharmacy professor! I also have a smaller interest in pursuing a fellowship, specifically as a potential medical science liaison in industry, a position of which I feel my skillset could potentially translate well.”

Aung thanked the Schorr Family for their generosity and commitment to our area and students in healthcare.

“I hope to honor this scholarship through my future work and service to patients and the community,” he said. “By investing in students like me, your contributions allow us to focus on becoming component and compassionate future pharmacists.”