Roane State Community College

Aug. 23, 2019

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Two women who attended Roane State graduated with doctorate of pharmacy degrees from a Knoxville institution, and both say a Roane State Community College professor inspired them and supported their efforts all along the way.

"I've never had anybody in my life as supportive as he has been," Becky Marie Herald-Hester said of Steve Ward, associate professor of chemistry.

Haley Griffith

"He is an absolutely incredible professor," Haley Griffith said of Ward. "He goes above and beyond in my opinion."

Ward, meanwhile, returns the compliments. "They are both REMARKABLE women!!!" he wrote in an e-mail about his former students.

Both Herald-Hester and Griffith graduated from the accelerated, three-year program at South College School of Pharmacy, Knoxville, on June 7.

"It's definitely a challenge," said Herald-Hester, 38, who has two sons, 12 and 6, and lives in Knoxville. "There were very few breaks throughout the year. You only have two weeks off, max, between quarters."

She graduated from Roane State in May 2016 with an associate's degree in science.

"It was intense, to say the least," said Griffith, 24, of her experience in pharmacy school. "You're just constantly studying for an exam or preparing for a quiz," the Lenoir City resident said.

Griffith took two chemistry classes at Roane State in the summer of 2014 and a semester of organic chemistry II at the community college in 2016. She then completed a pre-pharmacy curriculum at Tennessee Tech.

Both women overcame challenges along the way. Herald-Hester said she was pregnant when she signed up to go back to school at Roane State and later went through a divorce.

Griffith was pregnant with daughter Addison, born in April, during the final part of her pharmacy school training. She's married to Jacob Griffith, a physician's assistant in cardiothoracic surgery at UT Medical Center.

Becky Marie Herald-Hester

Herald-Hester is already working at Walgreen's as a graduate intern, while Griffith said she wants to work in an independent pharmacy.

"I can honestly say I absolutely loved getting to take classes at Roane State," Griffith said.

"I think my experience at Roane State greatly contributes to my success today; especially my experience with Mr. Ward," Herald-Hester said. "I struggled with general chemistry and he was always willing to stay after and help. While I was in pharmacy school, he sent words of support, and that speaks volumes for his love of teaching."