Harding College of Pharmacy hosts award luncheon

SEARCY — Students, faculty, staff and donors celebrated as the Harding University College of Pharmacy awarded scholarships totaling $154,259 to 38 students during a luncheon Sept. 6.

College of Pharmacy alumna Katie Skaggs was the keynote speaker for the luncheon. Skaggs spoke to her experience at Harding and shared advice to students still in the program.

“Learn to set boundaries so that the things that are most important to you don’t suffer,” Skaggs said. “Take advantage of your time here at Harding. There are so many people here who want to see you succeed, both as a pharmacist and as a person.”

Every year, faculty and staff from the College of Pharmacy vote for a thirdyear student pharmacist who shows not only academic excellence but integrity, Christ-centered purpose and a desire to serve others. Until the scholarship is presented at the luncheon, the recipient is unaware that he or she has been chosen. This year’s recipient of the faculty-staff scholarship is Los Angeles native Joshua Park.

“First of all, I feel really blessed and honored” Park said. “I did not expect to get anything. I thought that maybe I was not supposed to be here because everyone else’s name was on the list, and mine wasn’t. I am really thankful to all of the faculty and staff who even thought of me. There are so many other people in our classes who totally deserve this award more than I do, so I just appreciate their choosing me.”

Park was originally a business major, but his sister, who was part of the inaugural class for the College of Pharmacy, planted the idea of Park enrolling in the pharmacy program. It was at her graduation that he was introduced to the faculty and staff at Harding, and they made a lasting impression on him. After completing his chemistry prerequisites at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, he applied to Harding and was accepted for the class of 2019.

“I went to a school that had hundreds of students in each class, and I could have never spoken to my professor once,” Park said. “On the second day at Harding, I had four or five of my professors’ numbers, they were texting me, and I didn’t know how to text back to professors. They would invite me to their house, and I would have dinner at my professor’s house, which was completely far-fetched to me.”

Joe Baker has been working for more than 25 years with Pharmacist Mutual insurance company, which insures pharmacists for pharmacy errors and liability concerns. Several years ago, the company’s scholarship program was cut back, and Baker saw an opportunity to create a scholarship of his own and help students.

“It is very important and worthwhile,” Baker said. “I sponsor a scholarship for the [University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences] College of Pharmacy in Little Rock and also for Harding’s College of Pharmacy.”

Baker chose to get involved with the College of Pharmacy because he enjoys the people at Harding and the atmosphere of a smaller school. He encouraged students to appreciate the journey of becoming a pharmacist.

“The staff, the faculty and especially the students — they are just a tremendous group,” Baker said.