{"id":2446,"date":"2018-01-15T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T08:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2446"},"modified":"2018-01-12T17:23:25","modified_gmt":"2018-01-12T17:23:25","slug":"tstc-student-on-path-to-new-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2446","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Student on Path to New Career"},"content":{"rendered":"

(FORT BEND) – Gerardo Garcia was the only graduate in December to get a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and earn Board of Regent graduate honors, and he managed this accomplishment against great odds.<\/p>\n

Garcia earned his certificate in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Technology during TSTC\u2019s Commencement Ceremony at the Rosenberg Civic Center.<\/p>\n

This semester, the Zapata native is back in the classroom pursuing an associate degree in his field and another perfect GPA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have big goals for myself and before TSTC they weren\u2019t happening,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cMy future was uncertain and now I feel like things are falling into place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old\u2019s journey at TSTC started when he got laid off from his job in the oil and gas industry and was invited by his twin sisters to join them in Houston.\"Gerardo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cFor six months I had no job and no money,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cI was tired of being considered not hirable.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in January 2017, Garcia enrolled at TSTC and got a part-time job at Home Depot to pay for school. However, it was not an easy ride.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything about my classes was great,\u201d he said. \u201cThe instructors were attentive and always there for me and the hands-on training I was receiving was excellent, but I was struggling personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

While at Home Depot, Garcia worked well into the night. At least twice a week, Garcia would get out at 3 .m. and would sleep in his car to ensure that he made it to class by 8 a.m.<\/p>\n

On the days he would get out earlier he would make the half-hour drive home to finish homework and get some sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy working overnight and I didn\u2019t want my education to suffer,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I also needed the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, instead of leaving school, he left Home Depot and found a job at HEB.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the best decision I could have made,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cHEB\u2019s schedule allows me to focus more on school. I\u2019m well on my way to a new career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia has dreams of someday getting his contractor\u2019s license and starting an HVAC residential and commercial business after getting some experience in the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith an associate degree, my resume will no longer be tossed to the side and ignored,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cI have a degree and skills that people are looking for and it\u2019s now going to be easier finding a job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia, who expects to earn his associate degree Summer 2018 said he wants others to know that if they are looking for a new career or a career change TSTC is the place to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cTSTC is changing my life and will lead me to job security and stability,\u201d said Garcia. \u201cI highly recommend TSTC.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on HVAC Technology or to apply and register anytime, visit tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(FORT BEND) – Gerardo Garcia was the only graduate in December to get a perfect 4.0 grade-point average and earn Board of Regent graduate honors, and he managed this accomplishment against great odds. Garcia earned his certificate in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Technology during TSTC\u2019s Commencement Ceremony at the Rosenberg Civic Center. This […]<\/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-2446","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\/2446","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=2446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2448,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446\/revisions\/2448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}