Rachel Echols
When Rachel Echols's husband lost his job in early 2009, the stay-at-home mother of 14 years immediately began researching careers that she could train for as quickly and inexpensively as possible. She found that pharmacy work seemed to be in demand, and that Blue Ridge Community College offered a Pharmacy Technician Certification Prep Course. Rachel and her family lived in Richmond at the time, so she commuted to BRCC for the first half of the eight week course. After her husband got a job in the Harrisonburg area Rachel "held down the fort" in Richmond, selling their home there and moving the family to the Valley.
Pharmacology was a completely foreign subject for Rachel, who had taken two years of college and worked as an office manager before having children. "The information I needed to learn was challenging, having had no pharmacy experience," explained Rachel. BRCC Pharmacy Prep Course Instructor, and pharmacist at the Grottoes Pharmacy, Bill Wilkes gave all his students extra help and made himself available at any time according to Rachel. "He gave us all his contact information and encouraged us to call him with questions and to report back to him the results of our exam." Shortly after completing the non-credit prep course at BRCC, Rachel took the Virginia State Pharmacy Technician Exam, missing only one question. Six weeks later she had a job with Mr. Wilkes at the Grottoes Pharmacy. "I told the owners frankly that she was the best student I had ever had and would strongly recommend her for employment," said Bill. "She has become a truly commendable and dependable employee who mastered our rather complex computer software almost immediately."
In the fall of 2009, with the state exam under her belt, Rachel began the BRCC prep course for the National Pharmacy Technician Exam. Again, Bill was the instructor for the course, and went above and beyond to help Rachel prepare. Even the blizzard of February 2010 couldn't stop Rachel, as she had to travel to Roanoke that snowy Friday to take the national exam. Not only did she overcome the storm, but she took command of the exam as well. "When she showed me her exam results some three weeks later, I was literally astounded as to her success. She scored a 98% which meant she missed only three questions," explained Mr. Wilkes. He continued, "I have NEVER had a student do that and I started teaching the class in 1991!"
With aspirations of going to pharmacy school, Rachel began taking credit courses at BRCC in the summer of 2010. "I will continue working 3-4 days a week while going to school, so it will be a challenge, but I am excited at the possibilities in my future," said Rachel.
In addition to working and going back to college, Rachel and her husband are the proud parents of two teenagers. Rachel is also an award-winning wildlife photographer, and her photos have been published in Virginia Wildlife magazine.
