Cynthia Collins: Prescription for a Fulfilling Career
/Although she had graduated from the school more than four decades earlier, 1979 alumna Cynthia Collins arrived on the SFDS campus last summer with the excitement of a freshman. “I’ve gotten the school newsletters throughout the years, and have gone to our class reunions,” Ms. Collins said. “When I got the email blast that Roni Facen was the new principal, I was so excited that I just had to go meet her!” Ms. Collins attended the August 2020 SFDS cookout, and was surprised to find that Principal Facen already knew of her. “Prior to the cookout I had bought some things on the school’s Amazon wish list. Roni remembered that right away,” Ms. Collins said. “I’m excited to have someone with such energy leading the school, and am happy to offer any support I can.”
Ms. Collins says that one of the reasons Roni’s arrival has been significant to her is that the population of Black students during her own time at the school was very small. “The immediate area around the school was Croatian, Serbian, and Polish,” she said. For Ms. Collins, however, navigating the school’s diverse environment was second nature. “I grew up the daughter of an electrical engineer and an educator,'' she said. “The circles that my family traveled in were always multicultural, so I had friends of all walks of life.”
After attending elementary school at St. Edmunds Episcopal School, Ms. Collins enrolled at SFDS, following in the footsteps of her older cousin. She and her family lived in Chatham until Ms. Collins’ junior year, when they moved to Glenwood, Illinois—but the distance didn’t stop her from completing her SFDS education. “My dad bought me a car, and for that last year and a half, I commuted up to an hour each way.”
One of the reasons Ms. Collins didn’t consider transferring schools after the family move was her involvement in the school’s extracurricular activities. “I was really into student government and was a student council officer for awhile,” explained Ms. Collins, who helped organize the school’s first dance-a-thon as a fundraiser for Providence St. Mel High School. “We were at the school all night. It was a lot of planning but a lot of fun, and groundbreaking at the time,” she said. Ms Collins’ other favorite memories of her SFDS days include the Homecoming pep rallies and parades, and the dances in the Rink with live bands.
But while her activities outside the classroom were memorable, Ms. Collins says that her experiences in the classroom were especially transformative. “I think the academic environment at St. Francis was outstanding,” she said. “We had opportunities that I didn’t hear people from other schools talk about. Latin was my favorite class—I will never forget Sister Rita Marie! Being a pharmacist, I still use Latin to this day.” Ms. Collins also cited the school’s “outstanding” AP program, which allowed her to place out of a few first-year college classes, and the business law class. “Business law was taught by Mr. Goich, a former New Orleans Saints football player,” Ms. Collins said, marvelling, “He was the biggest man you’ve ever seen!”
Not all classes received the same high marks from the alumna, however. “In PE class, we had these thick polyester rompers—they were awful—and we had to run to Cal Park when the weather was nice. I hated that!” Ms. Collins laughed. “I did enjoy learning ballroom dancing, lindy hop, and the fox trot, but the other stuff? They could keep it!”
After graduating from SFDS near the top of her class, Ms. Collins attended the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, initially on a pre-veterinary track. It wasn’t long before she realized it wasn’t for her. “They took us out to the farm, and we had to try to milk a cow. Not long after that, I switched to pre-med!”
Ms. Collins credits much of her success in college to SFDS: “St. Francis prepared me very well for higher education. I didn’t have any unusual struggles academically or culturally, or with my confidence. The school gave me an excellent foundation to move forward.”
Following U of I, Ms. Collins attended pharmacy school at the University of Illinois Medical Center. She jokes that upon graduation she started with “the obligatory Walgreens tour.” She moved onto Mercy Hospital, and later Northwestern, where she served as director of the hospital’s outpatient pharmacy. For the last 13 years of her full-time career, she returned to a retail environment, working in various management positions for Sam’s Club.
In 2018, Ms. Collins left full-time work in retail pharmacy. Although she doesn’t think she’ll return to a retail environment, she has not ruled out working in another capacity. “Pharmacy is a really interesting profession,” Ms. Collins said. “ I loved it, and got a chance to do a lot of things. Working on the clinical side,in administration, and on the retail side, they all had their merits. I think I made a very good career choice!”
Ms. Collins has one daughter, Kelli, who lives in Chicago, works as a personal trainer and manager of a fitness facility, and competes in powerlifting. The irony of her daughter’s career path is not lost on Ms. Collins. “As much as I hated everything athletic, my daughter is that much into it,” she laughed. “She loves what she does, and I’m so proud of her.”
Ms. Collins has some words of advice for current SFDS students. “Whatever is offered, participate. You only go around once.” Ms. Collins added that, even though this school year has looked very different due to Coronavirus, this is still an important time for students: “People say this is the best time of your life. You don’t believe it until 20 years later! Make networks, talk to each other. Above all, be safe, be smart in your choices, and be patient. I know it’s hard for some young people to be patient, but we can get past this.”