{"id":1414,"date":"2017-04-03T15:25:47","date_gmt":"2017-04-03T15:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2017-04-03T15:25:47","modified_gmt":"2017-04-03T15:25:47","slug":"tstc-instructor-overcomes-lifes-obstacles-for-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1414","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Instructor Overcomes Life’s Obstacles for Education"},"content":{"rendered":"

(FORT BEND) – Deogratias Nizigiyimana, or Deo, as many refer to him, is an African immigrant happy to call Fort Bend County and Texas State Technical College home.<\/p>\n

He is a Precision Machining Technology instructor at Texas State Technical College and brings to the table a vast background of experience in his field.<\/p>\n

Nizigiyimana is a graduate from North Central Texas College. He earned an associate degree in machining in 2005 and immediately landed his first job, an achievement that he once thought was out of reach.<\/p>\n

Nizigiyimana finished high school in his hometown of Burundi in East Africa and traveled to Congo for college, but when the war started his education was put on hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe couldn\u2019t stay in the country and my only other choice was the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cI was scared, I didn\u2019t want to come to the U.S. because I didn\u2019t know any English.\u201d\"Deogratias<\/a><\/p>\n

With help from the United Nations, Nizigiyimana made the journey to the U.S. in 2000 and struggled to get an education while working odd jobs. \u201cI had to pay for college by myself, I had no help,\u201d said Nizigiyimana. \u201cI was an international student and I didn\u2019t get any financial aid or scholarships. It was hard, but I wanted an education more than anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fast forward to the present and Nizigiyimana is a college graduate hoping to inspire those he now teaches.<\/p>\n

He gained his experience working at several machines shops, including National Oilwell Varco, but he finally found his passion at General Electric.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started as a trainee at GE,\u201d he said. \u201cBut because I had so much field experience I was always helping others. Many suggested I should become a teacher. I thought they were crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

After giving it some thought Nizigiyimana said he actually began considering the career change, and when he got laid off in 2014 he pursued higher education and became a machining instructor at a local Houston college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told myself I would only teach until I found another machine shop to work at,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s obviously not the case. It turns out I love to teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Nizigiyimana heard about the new campus TSTC was building in Rosenberg he knew it was sign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was looking for a full-time instructor job and there was TSTC with open doors,\u201d said Nizigiyimana. \u201cI saw the opportunity and I took it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nizigiyimana said he hopes to use his experiences, good and bad, as teachable moments for his students. He added that he will train each student so that they are ready for the workforce and give them a solid foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to teach my classes everything I have learned,\u201d he said. \u201cThey will learn how to be great, professional machinists and be able to jump into the workforce and be an asset to their company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nizigiyimana said he eventually wants to go back to school to pursue a bachelor\u2019s degree in Industrial Engineering. In the meantime, he is enjoying watching his two children grow, spending time with his wife, visiting family and friends and exploring Houston.<\/p>\n

For more information on Precision Machining Technology call 346-239-3444 or visit tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(FORT BEND) – Deogratias Nizigiyimana, or Deo, as many refer to him, is an African immigrant happy to call Fort Bend County and Texas State Technical College home. He is a Precision Machining Technology instructor at Texas State Technical College and brings to the table a vast background of experience in his field. Nizigiyimana is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fort-bend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414","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=1414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1416,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1414\/revisions\/1416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}