GTCC’s Pineda uses family medical history to fuel her drive toward public health career

“When I started this program, I didn’t know what a pharmacy tech was or what they did,” Sofia Pedraza Pineda says. “It sounded like a technician at CVS or Walgreens, but there is so much more involved in a technician role at a hospital. It’s a different world.”

Like many college students, Sofia Pedraza Pineda is driven to succeed in the classroom and beyond. But for Pineda, her ambition to make an impact in the field of public health is rooted in personal experience.

Pineda’s brother and sister both suffer from cognitive disorders. She has witnessed firsthand the dedicated efforts of all the healthcare professionals in their care.

“My brother has tuberous sclerosis. A rare genetic disorder that causes non-cancerous tumors to grow on vital body organs. He’s non-verbal and has limited mobility,” said Pineda. Her older sister was born with a birth defect, a cleft palate which resulted in speaking and hearing challenges.

“Growing up there were lots of medical tests performed on my brother. I saw the challenges my parents faced due to a lack of providers who understood their background,” said Pineda, adding that the dedication healthcare professionals put in for the care of her brother is what led her to pursue a career in healthcare.

Pineda’s path has taken her to Guilford Technical Community College where she will earn an Associate in Science in May of 2026. She will then transfer the following fall to the UNC-Chapel Hill through the C-STEP program offered at GTCC.

She is also working full-time as a pharmacy technician at the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist High Point Medical Center. This position, part of the Guilford Apprenticeship Partners (GAP) program, fully covers Pineda’s educational expenses for her GTCC pharmacy technology diploma while offering competitive pay. Pineda said she picked the pharmacy technician pathway through GAP because she believes it will give her a better, broader understanding of public health working at the hospital.

“When I started this program, I didn’t know what a pharmacy tech was or what they did,” said Pineda. “It sounded like a technician at CVS or Walgreens, but there is so much more involved in a technician role at a hospital. It’s a different world.”

Pineda works as a pharmacy technician at the hospital, working with the Patient Aligned Care Team PACT, which does medication reconciliations in the inpatient pharmacy.

Medication reconciliations, Pineda said, involve comparing a patient's medical record to an external list of medications to create the most accurate medication list possible. The list includes the dosage, frequency, and route of each medication. The new up-to-date list is then communicated to the appropriate patient caregivers.

“It’s kind of like an interview process performed on each patient who comes into the emergency department,” said Pineda. “When working the inpatient pharmacy, I concentrate on getting medications up to the floors, responding to medical messages from other teams, and packaging medications.”

Pineda not only has blended seamlessly into the regular staff at the High Point Medical Center but has become a valued member of the team.

“She is amazing. She is so kind, so willing to learn and thinks of others. It’s just beautiful,” said Leigh Fritz, director of pharmacy at the High Point Medical Center. “Her work ethic is … you can’t stop her. She sees it needs to be done, and she gets it done.”

The class and workload can be daunting at times, a real balancing act, but the 19-year-old Pineda has figured out a way to deal with it all successfully.

“It’s not as difficult as it sounds, as long as you have good time management skills. It does get overwhelming at times, but I love being a student and I love working.”

Over the past couple of years, Pineda has found traditional Mexican folklore dancing to be not only a way to relieve stress, but also a meaningful celebration of her heritage.

“I got involved in traditional Mexican folkloric dancing in high school. I was looking for an activity outside of school that didn’t have to do with academics and joined BFMT of JR, a local Greensboro dance group,” said Pineda, a first-generation college student. “I fell in love with it. I’m able to exercise and embrace my culture.”

Pineda says her parents have always been her biggest fans, always making sure she had everything she needed for a solid education.

“When I first started school, my first language wasn’t English, so communication was difficult. But my parents always told me education is important, knowledge is something no one can ever take it from you,” said Pineda.

For more information on GTCC’s pharmacy technology program, visit GTCC's pharmacy technology page.