{"id":1356,"date":"2017-03-13T14:34:26","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T14:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1356"},"modified":"2017-03-13T14:34:26","modified_gmt":"2017-03-13T14:34:26","slug":"student-success-profile-brandy-garza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1356","title":{"rendered":"Student Success Profile – Brandy Garza"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Brandy Garza is a Dental Hygiene student at Texas State Technical College. This is the 46-year-old\u2019s first time back at the college since pursuing her academic courses in 1995.<\/p>\n

Garza already holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in hotel and restaurant management. She worked in the hospitality industry for 17 years. An immune deficiency diagnosis forced her to take a leave and make her health a priority, but she is now getting a second chance at a ne\"Brandy<\/a>w career.<\/p>\n

The Harlingen native holds a 3.4 grade-point average and is active with Student Government Association and the Veteran Students Alliance Club paying homage to her father who is a retired Marine and her brother and sister-in-law who are active Marines.<\/p>\n

What are your plans after graduation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

After I graduate I will focus all of my efforts on gaining more experience as a registered dental hygienist in a dental office or community clinic.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your dream job?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I chose a career in dental hygiene because it allows me to provide a valuable service to my community, especially children, elderly and the disabled. I will also have the flexibility to better balance my career and personal life.<\/p>\n

What has been your greatest accomplishment while at TSTC?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My greatest accomplishment has been being able to use my life experience to motivate my classmates, especially the younger students just starting out. However, I\u2019ve learned a lot from them as well.<\/p>\n

What greatest lesson have you learned about yourself or life?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have learned that kindness matters. I have found that even the smallest expression of kindness can have an enormous impact on others. It does not take much to be kind. So I practice every day to be kinder and to make a difference in someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

Who at TSTC has influenced your success the most?<\/strong><\/p>\n

My dad, who is a Building Construction Technology student at TSTC, has definitely been the biggest influence. Since graduating from the University of Houston in 1997, I have not been back in a classroom. I was apprehensive about going back to school but seeing how much my 65-year-old father enjoyed it and how well he was doing in his classes, I saw I had nothing to fear. He and my mother continue to encourage me and it is their never ending support that gets me through my toughest challenges.<\/p>\n

What is your advice for future TSTC students?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to advice students to find the thing they love to do with all of their hearts because then every day will be a gift. And, if they have not found their passion then make it a mission to find it. The joy it brings will spill over into all aspects of their lives.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Brandy Garza is a Dental Hygiene student at Texas State Technical College. This is the 46-year-old\u2019s first time back at the college since pursuing her academic courses in 1995. Garza already holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in hotel and restaurant management. She worked in the hospitality industry for 17 years. An immune deficiency diagnosis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356","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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1358,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1356\/revisions\/1358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}