Receiving a student scholarship to attend PharmaSUG 2011 provided me with an amazing opportunity. It allowed me to look into an aspect of SAS that I may not have otherwise been able to. I got to see how SAS was used in the pharmaceutical industry, and see how I could apply everything I’d learned in school to a new field.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this experience was also very intimidating; travelling to a city far from home, not knowing a soul. And although I met lots of new people, both students and professionals, nothing came close to running into some old friends: my SAS books.

Some people collect stamps, others rare coins, but nothing makes me happier than getting a new SAS book. The way their bindings all seem to flow together when placed on a bookshelf. Friends that are always there for me if I come across an error in my log that’s got me really confused, or to suggest new, more efficient ways for coding. How many of your friends do that?

Now, I was fortunate enough to obtain many of my SAS books through my undergraduate and graduate courses at Grand Valley State University. Once that started, I began buying new SAS books whenever I could, whenever I had a little bit of extra cash. In fact, I was blown away by the opportunity we were given to receive a new book at the conference. I was elated; I think it only took me 4 trips or so before I finally made my decision!

So after the conference was over, I returned home with a few new Facebook friends, and one friend who will be there for me when I need helping modifying large SAS data sets.