For someone who has not done powerlifting previously, Ms Farhanna Farid (Class of ’15) has impressively carved a name for herself within a short span of time in the sport, astounding everyone with her three times world record! She won a gold medal in her first national competition (Singapore Powerlifting Open, 2018) and then another three gold medals in her first international competition (Asian Classic Powerlifting Championship, 2018), all while breaking national and world records respectively.

However, being a powerlifter is just one of the many hats she wears. She is also currently a Medical Information Specialist at AstraZeneca and a powerlifting coach. In her day job, she provides support to healthcare professionals and patients, and processes adverse events reports for AstraZeneca’s vaccine project within the Asia Pacific region. Her role changes after work where she trains for about 2 hours, four times a week, and then conducts team training with her remaining time. As a coach, she reviews videos of athletes for form analysis and provides feedback as well as draft new weekly programs for them.

In her multi-faceted life, Farhanna describes the juggling of these three roles as “an ongoing game of tetris” as she finds it challenging to manage her time and fatigue amidst completing tasks and progressing in her own training. There are times when she does not have enough time to clear her coaching backlog, not to mention setting aside time for social life or unwind. To cope with the hectic schedule, she shares that “recognising what keeps me happy and motivated usually helps to strike the balance. I do believe when something means a lot to you, you will make time for it.”

She shares with us more on the lessons she has gained from pharmacy and powerlifting and provided important advice to all on how we can discover our potential and achieve the seemingly impossible.