{"id":1686,"date":"2017-06-08T20:18:58","date_gmt":"2017-06-08T20:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1686"},"modified":"2017-06-08T20:18:58","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T20:18:58","slug":"father-son-make-tstc-a-family-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1686","title":{"rendered":"Father, Son Make TSTC a Family Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Graduation\"<\/a>(HUTTO) – When Texas State Technical College welding graduate James Gnuschke walked the stage on May 1, he made one TSTC instructor a little more proud than the rest of them. James\u2019 father, Industrial Maintenance instructor Allen Gnuschke, beamed with delight as his son accepted his diploma.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lifelong interests and a job loss in Colorado led the Gnuschkes to TSTC, where James wanted to pursue a certificate in welding.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did some pipeline work and stuff like that a few years before I came down here. The welding side of it always really piqued my interest,\u201d James said. \u201cIt was always something I wanted to try. I ended up getting laid off from the heavy equipment job I had in Colorado, and we came down here to pursue new careers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James said a love of working with his hands and watching his dad work made him want to learn a trade of his own.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad has always had jobs where he works with his hands, building and repairing,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve always looked up to my dad and enjoyed working with him on projects when I was younger. It kind of inspired me to follow the same kind of work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James, who has been hired as a structural rig welder for a private contractor, will begin his new job this week. James was hired on at a pay rate of $40 an hour and will also earn an additional $15 per hour for use of his truck.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter TSTC, I feel like I\u2019m pretty well prepared to work,\u201d James said. \u201cI like working outside and having a trade that not everybody can just pick up and do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though James chose to study welding instead of his father\u2019s program of Industrial Maintenance, Allen said the two programs go hand in hand and work well together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWelders are handy people to have around,\u201d Allen said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of a complementary thing. We\u2019ve worked together on some projects here. We\u2019ve actually built several rigs for students here. It\u2019s a good match.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The duo teamed up as part of a Hutto Has Heart project to continue the legacy of a Hutto resident whose dream was to raise a cross at the Hutto Lutheran Church. TSTC Provost Edgar Padilla said students and staff from TSTC worked on the project for a couple of days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a gentleman in Hutto who passed away and his dream was to build a cross at the Hutto Lutheran Cemetery from metal that had been scrapped from The Gin here in town. His family was looking for somebody to finish his dream,\u201d Padilla said. \u201cWe decided that, to be consistent with our community efforts, we could help with that in some way. So we wrangled up a few of the guys and went out there. They went out to the site and built the cross, ground it, welded it together and erected it. Now the Hutto Lutheran Church has a beautiful cross that\u2019s going to be there for a long time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Padilla said it was inspiring to see the Gnuschkes work together.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis project was a glaring example of not only TSTC\u2019s commitment to the community, but also the power of two generations, a father and a son, working together side by side and doing something that requires so much skill,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was really nice to see that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As for Allen, he said he has nothing but pride for his son.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt graduation, the population in the room went to two,\u201d Allen said. \u201cThey could have been throwing tomatoes for all I know. Have you ever seen the movie \u2018The Patriot\u2019? When they\u2019re going on about who\u2019s the better man, and Mel Gibson says, \u2018No, my sons were the better men,\u2019 that\u2019s how I feel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

James urges those who are thinking about a technical career to \u201cjust do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people that spend too much time overthinking things and making bigger problems than there should be,\u201d he said. \u201cI had a gut feeling and just went for it, and I\u2019ve loved it ever since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

TSTC is registering for the fall semester through Monday, Aug. 21. Interested in registering, but aren\u2019t sure how? TSTC will host three Registration Rallies to help students through the registration process beginning Wednesday, June 21. For more information on the rallies, TSTC\u2019s welding program or the college, visit tstc.edu.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HUTTO) – When Texas State Technical College welding graduate James Gnuschke walked the stage on May 1, he made one TSTC instructor a little more proud than the rest of them. James\u2019 father, Industrial Maintenance instructor Allen Gnuschke, beamed with delight as his son accepted his diploma. Lifelong interests and a job loss in Colorado […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wilco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686","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=1686"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1688,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1686\/revisions\/1688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}