CBC Alumni Story

Victor Vargas, a former men’s soccer player at Central Baptist College graduated in 2010 and recently passed his boards to become a Doctor of Pharmacy. Victor currently resides in Tulsa, Okla., and works at a CVS Pharmacy with hopes to someday open his own pharmacy.

MY CBC STORY

“I was raised in South Korea, but moved to Arkansas when I was young,” said Vargas. “I played high school soccer at Texarkana and was selected to play in the high school all-star game as a senior, where I won the MVP award. That is how I met (former CBC Head Soccer Coach) Justin Hawkins and came to CBC. I didn’t know what I wanted to study at CBC, at first. I knew I wanted to go into the medical field, but I didn’t know which field until I chose pharmacy. I love doing retail pharmacy, but the goal, for now, is to own my own pharmacy.”

SOCCER, PREPARATION FOR PHARMACY SCHOOL

When asked how soccer influenced his current profession, Victor responded: “It trained me both physically and mentally to overcome tough situations. It helped me get through pharmacy school with the challenges. It required a high mentality and strong physical resistance. It would have been a lot more difficult to get through pharmacy school without the discipline and ability to deal with difficulties I acquired through playing soccer.”

MY CBC EXPERIENCE

Vargas described his favorite moment at CBC as “the friendliness of the students and approach-ability of professors, faculty and staff. I had good people around me.” His favorite athletic moment was winning the NCCAA Central Regional and getting to play in three games in the National Tournament in Florida in 2008. They played a 1-0 game against the team that eventually went to the National Championship.

When asked what the most valuable lesson learned at CBC was, Vargas responded: “Being a student-athlete is almost like having a full-time job. I had to learn how to spend time studying, practicing and working out with a lot of self-discipline. I built a lot of relationships with my professors and it helped me with getting into pharmacy school.”

ADVICE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS

Vargas said that the information he would leave with a college student today is “Network as much as you can. Building relationships with people is important. Studying is important but building relationships can benefit you in the future. A prime example is when I was in pharmacy school, I got to take a class led by former classmate at CBC, Ashley Castleberry. Have a plan and spend your time wisely because when you are in school you don’t realize that life has so much left for you.”

Article written by Erik Holth, CBC Sports Information Director on Wednesday Aug. 15, 2018 as part of a summer alumni spotlight series can Where Are They Now?

Photo Credit CBC Journalism Department

To learn more about Central Baptist College visit cbc.edu/WhyCBC