{"id":1084,"date":"2016-12-06T09:30:24","date_gmt":"2016-12-06T09:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1084"},"modified":"2016-12-07T18:21:42","modified_gmt":"2016-12-07T18:21:42","slug":"former-oil-field-workers-to-receive-degrees-from-tstc-at-fall-commencement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1084","title":{"rendered":"Former Oil Field Workers to Receive Degrees From TSTC at Fall Commencement"},"content":{"rendered":"

(MARSHALL) \u2013 Joshua Anderson of Waskom and Joshua Jackson of Longview have gone from the oil fields to the classroom.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the two friends will walk across the stage together to receive Associate of Applied Science degrees in Computer Networking and Systems Administration from Texas State Technical College at Fall Commencement on Friday, Dec. 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJoshua and Joshua have both been outstanding students with respectful attitudes, exceptional critical thinking skills and dedication to follow through until a problem is solved,\u201d said Amy L. Hertel, an information technology studies instructor at TSTC. \u201cThey have both taken on leadership roles at TSTC and have been a great example to our incoming students. I\u2019m looking forward to watching them enter their career field and excel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson grew up in Marshall. After graduating from Marshall High School in 1998, he went to work in the oil fields and along the way studied emergency medical technology and receive firefighter certification.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen I decided I didn\u2019t like firefighting and went back to the oil fields and met Joshua,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cAfter the oil fields, I figured I would come back to school again.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackson was born in Houston and grew up in Southern California. After high school, he joined the U.S. Navy and worked with bombs and missiles. After he left the military in 2001, he was hired for oil field work in Kilgore and moved to Longview.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson and Jackson worked in Texas and offshore in Louisiana. The two were laid off from their jobs in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing laid off was a blessing in disguise,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI really wanted to go back to school and had I not been laid off I probably would not have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson was familiar with TSTC and visited with staff members about technical programs. He told Jackson about the college, and the two registered to start classes in May 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe worked it out with our class advisor and made sure we had the same schedule to take the same classes together and study,\u201d Anderson said.<\/span><\/p>\n

While Anderson had been in college before, this was the first time Jackson sat in college-level classes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI went to school and worked full time,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cBeing older and coming back to school is intimidating. I didn\u2019t know how I would fare. I wasn\u2019t sure if I could handle it, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackson began an internship in September at Marshall\u2019s SEVEN Networks, where he helps manage Linux and Microsoft Windows servers and handles cables.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really enjoying it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe internship teaches me something new every day. It gives me some real-world experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson and Jackson were TSTC student ambassadors who gave tours and told visitors about the mission and technical programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anderson and Jackson will continue their educations working on associate degrees in Cyber Security at TSTC during the spring semester.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEverything they teach at TSTC is for local jobs,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cIt\u2019s to help build the community.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 60 graduates will receive certificates and associate degrees at TSTC\u2019s Fall Commencement at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, at Wiley College\u2019s Julius S. Scott Sr. Chapel at 711 Wiley Ave. in Marshall.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n

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(MARSHALL) \u2013 Joshua Anderson of Waskom and Joshua Jackson of Longview have gone from the oil fields to the classroom. Now, the two friends will walk across the stage together to receive Associate of Applied Science degrees in Computer Networking and Systems Administration from Texas State Technical College at Fall Commencement on Friday, Dec. 9. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marshall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1084"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1088,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1084\/revisions\/1088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1084"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1084"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1084"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}