{"id":1423,"date":"2017-04-04T17:35:58","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T17:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1423"},"modified":"2017-04-04T22:21:48","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T22:21:48","slug":"fayette-county-student-finds-technical-rhythm-at-tstc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1423","title":{"rendered":"Fayette County Student Finds Technical Rhythm at TSTC"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WACO) \u2013 Alex Barron remembers the anticipation he had when he went to his first Korean pop concert when he was a teenager.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron, 21, grew up in West Point in Fayette County and convinced his father to drive him to Houston to see the Wonder Girls at the House of Blues. Barron did not have a driver\u2019s license, but he and a cousin went to the show while his father visited a relative.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Barron said. \u201cI was hit by a wave of surprise.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron is just as excited again because he is about to graduate from Texas State Technical College in Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

He will receive an Associate of Applied Science degree in Web Design and Development Technology at TSTC\u2019s Spring 2017 Commencement at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, May 1, at the Waco Convention Center.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Web Design and Development Technology program has about 45 students. Students in the five-semester program learn about digital imaging, advanced web programming, web authoring and other topics. Barron said he is a visual learner and grasped coursework quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe web design field is always changing,\u201d Barron said. \u201cYou want to build a site that looks pretty and is not a mess to control.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Matt Blansit, an instructor in TSTC\u2019s Web Design and Development Technology program, said Barron is a sparkling example of what he wants to see his students become.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a very motivated student,\u201d Blansit said. \u201cHe goes over and beyond what he needs to do. We will miss his laughter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron was raised in West Point, a town he described as quiet and rural.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great place to grow up with your family,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron graduated in 2014 from La Grange High School, where he took as many technology classes as possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

TSTC did not factor into his post-high school plans until late his senior year.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy cousin Eric Barron came here,\u201d he said. \u201cHe told me about the college and the hands-on training. I looked it up and they had computer programs, and the tuition was not annoying and overbearing. I applied first and then visited before I started in the fall of 2014.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Traveling to Waco for college was a culture shock, Barron said. But he grew to enjoy exploring Cameron Park and downtown Waco.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I came here I didn\u2019t know anybody,\u201d he said. \u201cNow I have made my group of friends and that\u2019s all I need.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When he is not going to classes or studying, Barron listens to some of his favorite K-pop groups and learns their choreography.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI first found K-pop when a friend showed me an online video when I was in high school,\u201d he said. \u201cI listen online using music streaming services. I also collect albums and buy online. I have 64 albums.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Barron will put his web design skills to good use as he represents Texas in SkillsUSA\u2019s National Leadership and Skills Conference in June in Louisville, Kentucky. After his trip there, Barron wants to search for web design jobs in the Austin area and pick up freelance work. And in the future, Barron wants to travel to South Korea, Italy, Spain and Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

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

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

(WACO) \u2013 Alex Barron remembers the anticipation he had when he went to his first Korean pop concert when he was a teenager. Barron, 21, grew up in West Point in Fayette County and convinced his father to drive him to Houston to see the Wonder Girls at the House of Blues. Barron did not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1423","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-waco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423","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=1423"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1425,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1423\/revisions\/1425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}