{"id":1891,"date":"2017-07-31T08:00:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T08:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1891"},"modified":"2017-07-28T14:54:44","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T14:54:44","slug":"tstc-employees-journey-to-30-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=1891","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Employee\u2019s Journey to 30 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – For Leticia Licea all roads led to Texas State Technical College more than 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

The Raymondville native has been at TSTC since December 1986 and was recently recognized for her service to the college at its recent Employee Appreciation Day.<\/p>\n

Her journey at TSTC started when she had to return home from St. Edward\u2019s University in Austin, where she was studying Fine Arts, to help her parents through a difficult time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was one class shy of getting my bachelor\u2019s degree,\u201d Licea remembers. \u201cBut naturally when your family needs you it\u2019s time to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Licea recalls applying anywhere and everywhere for a job, including TSTC. She received call backs from the Department of Health Services and almost became a state trooper, but said neither of the two options felt right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had just started working at Dillard\u2019s when TSTC called me,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I did what I thought was right and I worked at TSTC, Dillard\u2019s and later HEB all at the same time.\u201d\"Leticia<\/a><\/p>\n

Eventually she said the combination no longer worked and she chose TSTC above all other jobs and never looked back.<\/p>\n

Licea is currently an enrollment specialist for the Office of Admissions, but she started as a switchboard operator and stayed at that position for 15 years. She then became the department secretary for the Office of Student Recruitment and finally made her way to admissions as an admissions technician and an admission staff assistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love everything about my job,\u201d said Licea. \u201cI wake up every morning happy to come to work and tackle the day. It\u2019s never the same thing and that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

She went on to say that the students are what make her job worthwhile and being able to help them through the application process and to make a difference in their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the students to my colleagues, I have been blessed with my second family here at TSTC,\u201d Licea added.<\/p>\n

Those who work closely with Licea say she brings positivity to the office and for some, like TSTC Executive Registrar Paula Arredondo who has worked with her for 23 years, it makes all the difference.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeticia is an outstanding employee, very committed,\u201d said Arredondo. \u201cShe is student driven, loyal to her work and the college and a great person all around.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is these qualities that also earned Licea Staff Excellence Awards in 2006 and 2014.<\/p>\n

Though Licea is an avid runner and has her ranch complete with goats, chickens, geese, dogs and cats to take care of she said retirement is not in her horizon yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could have retired already, but I\u2019m still healthy and as long as I am I\u2019m going to continue working,\u201d said Licea.<\/p>\n

When asked what keeps her going she had insightful advice for others: \u201cThe key is to always be positive and take life one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – For Leticia Licea all roads led to Texas State Technical College more than 30 years ago. The Raymondville native has been at TSTC since December 1986 and was recently recognized for her service to the college at its recent Employee Appreciation Day. Her journey at TSTC started when she had to return home […]<\/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-1891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891","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=1891"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1893,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1891\/revisions\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}