For one young student, an affordable, year-long pharmacy technician program quickly leads to a job
If you ask Arlene Hernandez what she wishes she had known before enrolling in the pharmacy technician program at Fontana Adult School (FAS), her answer is decisive.
“I wish I had known about it sooner,” she says. “If I had started right out of high school, I’d already have a few years of work experience.”
Although she was initially apprehensive about returning to school, Hernandez’s fears were quickly alleviated.
“I worried, what if I don’t fit in? What if the classes are too hard? But the teachers believed in me and encouraged me,” she says. “I shouldn’t have worried so much.”
“My instructors reassured me that as long as I kept trying it would be okay. They understood my challenges.”
Arlene Hernandez, Pharmacy Technician Graduate, Fontana Adult School
Hernandez, 22, started FAS’s pharmacy technician training program in July 2023. By the following June, she was a licensed technician, with a job at Walgreens and a newfound confidence. Before she achieved all this, though, she had to realize what was waiting for her in her own backyard.
“I was working at a retail store in a part-time job. I wanted something more,” she says. “One of my friends is a pharmacy tech; she really urged me to train for that career.”
Initially, Hernandez considered trade schools but found them to be cost-prohibitive.
“Their fees were way out of my budget,” she says. “One pushed me to get a student loan I couldn’t afford.”
Then, she discovered FAS.
“I used to drop off my cousin at the high school near Fontana Adult School,” she says. “I thought I should find out what it was all about, so I dropped in. I learned their pharmacy tech program was affordable—under $2,000.”
She enrolled for the next term and, when classes started, leaned on her instructors for help and guidance.
“I started out with two prerequisite classes in math and medical terminology. I’m not really good at math,” she says. “I worried that I would not make the cut. I came forward to my teachers with my concerns.”
Teachers Brian Lyons and Gina Copeland were supportive and encouraging, she says, encouraging Hernandez to remember she had the tools to succeed..
“My instructors reassured me that as long as I kept trying it would be okay. They understood my challenges,” she says. “They said I already knew where other students give 100%, for me it would be 2000%. They advised me just to focus on my work.”
The one-on-one teaching was something new for Hernandez, as was FAS’s overall class structure.
“In high school, I had a high grade point average, but I really struggled to keep up with the material. In adult school, the classes were organized so there wasn’t a chance to get behind,” she says. “Plus, there was more hands-on learning, which is best for me.”
Hernandez received a grant from San Bernadino County to pay her tuition. She aced her math class, passed the typing tests, mastered pharmaceutical terms, and performed a 240-hour externship at the Walgreens in nearby Rialto.
Then, coursework done, she readied to take the necessary test to earn her technician’s license. The thought of completing the exam was “nerve-wracking” she says.
“So much depended on passing it,” she says. “But it turned out that everything covered by the exam we had been taught in class. I passed! I was licensed.”
The Walgreens offered her a job, and the newly minted tech went to work.
She advises people considering adult school not to hesitate.
“I tell them to give adult school a try,” she said. “Before I started the program, I worried that I might be overlooked in the job market because I went to an adult school rather than a private trade school. Now I know that adult school is actually a better education because of all the encouragement and hands-on help.”
For more information on Fontana Adult School’s pharmacy technician pathway program visit: https://adultschool.fusd.net/
Written by Dorothy Korber
| Regions | Classes & Topics |
|---|---|
| Southern California | Careers in Health Care |
