![\"Jose](\"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/TSTC-Jose-Vargas-Retires.jpg\")
<\/a>served TSTC for 40 years and four months and said there was never a day he did not wake up happy to go to work.<\/p>\n\u201cI love my work so much, that it doesn\u2019t feel like work,\u201d said Vargas. \u201cMy efforts here at TSTC have allowed me to educate students while being able to support and provide a college education for my own children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vargas said he wakes up every day ready to influence his students and prepare them to be successful in the workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I\u2019m going to accidentally wake up and drive to work on my first day of retirement,\u201d Vargas said while laughing. \u201cTSTC has become my second home and family. The people are what I\u2019m going to miss the most.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years Vargas has taught more than 1,600 students and has hired a number of his past students as faculty for Automotive Technology.<\/p>\n
Among them, Vargas\u2019 former student and Auto Collision Technology Instructor Joseph Cantu who said he is going to miss the knowledge and guidance that Vargas brought to the classroom and life. \u00a0They have worked together for 19 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve gotten to where I am today because of Jose\u2019s guidance,\u201d said Cantu. \u201cHe\u2019s guided me as a student, an instructor and as a friend. I really don\u2019t know what the program is going to be like without him. It\u2019s hard to imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, Cantu said Vargas got him his first job at a Ford dealership in San Benito when he graduated in 1984.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis shoes are pretty big shoes to fill,\u201d said Cantu. \u201cBut we\u2019ll continue doing what he taught us to do and continue his work for the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Vargas\u2019 big accomplishments during his time at TSTC was bringing the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-CAR) to the Rio Grande Valley in 1986 to an ever changing industry.<\/p>\n
I-CAR is a not-for-profit focused on providing everyone involved in collision repair with access to high-quality, industry-recognized training solutions.<\/p>\n
Vargas\u2019 involvement in I-CAR as a national bilingual instructor and board of trustee deemed beneficial for TSTC students in the Auto Collision Technology. Monetary and in-kind donations have since rolled in along with scholarships for tuition and tools for deserving students.<\/p>\n
Lead Instructor for Auto Collision and Automotive Technology Adan Gutierrez has worked with Vargas for 15 years and said what inspires him most is his dedication to his students.<\/p>\n