{"id":2709,"date":"2018-03-26T14:28:51","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T14:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2709"},"modified":"2018-03-26T14:28:51","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T14:28:51","slug":"tstc-students-spend-spring-break-rebuilding-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=2709","title":{"rendered":"TSTC students spend spring break rebuilding lives"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Trading in flip-flops for hammers and drills, four Texas State Technical College Building Construction Technology students volunteered with Eight Days of Hope over spring break to help rebuild for those displaced by the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey.<\/p>\n

Yaquelin Gonzalez, Kristen Perales, Lidia Hernandez and Susana Sierra jumped in a car, packed their tents and bags and headed northeast to Houston for three days to join more than 4,000 other volunteers from across the United States during the organization\u2019s two-week event.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so sad to see that after seven months there are still people trying to pick up the pieces after such a devastating storm,\u201d said Sierra. \u201cHelping at such a large scale event was something we\u2019ve been wanting to do for a while now and I\u2019m so glad we got this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight Days of Hope is a Christian, non-profit organization in Houston that serves communities affected by natural disasters by assisting with rapid response and disaster relief. The organization operates with the help of volunteers and donations.<\/p>\n

Volunteers, like TSTC\u2019s building construction students, have restored or rebuilt close to 2,000 homes since 2005. To date, the organization has completed more than $30 million dollars of work for free.\"TSTC<\/a><\/p>\n

Gonzalez, Perales, Hernandez and Sierra were assigned to assist with kitchen and bathroom cabinet assembly and worked closely with the homeowners, who were also helping the volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience was great. On top of getting field experience, we also got to spend time with and speak to the victims of the flooding,\u201d said Sierra. \u201cTo see hope and gratitude in their eyes was the best feeling ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sentiment was shared across the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had families telling us that we were their sign of hope,\u201d said Gonzalez. \u201cThat\u2019s so touching. They\u2019ve been through so much and I\u2019m glad I took the opportunity to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez added, \u201cThe experience was worthwhile. Our contribution was making a difference and that in itself was rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC\u2019s Building Construction Technology Instructor Rolando Cuellar said he is proud of his students for taking the initiative to help out a community in need.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was spring break and they could have gone anywhere and done anything,\u201d he said. \u201cBut instead they made the choice to work and go where their help was needed. They really went above and beyond their call of duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s three-day adventure went beyond assembling cabinets. They bonded as a group while sleeping outside of a church in tents and were rewarded with a live concert featuring gospel singer Ryan Stevenson.<\/p>\n

The students all agree that the next time they get a call for help they will be there. They said there is no greater feeling than knowing you made a difference in someone\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

To learn more about Building Construction Technology at TSTC, visit tstc.edu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – Trading in flip-flops for hammers and drills, four Texas State Technical College Building Construction Technology students volunteered with Eight Days of Hope over spring break to help rebuild for those displaced by the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. Yaquelin Gonzalez, Kristen Perales, Lidia Hernandez and Susana Sierra jumped in a car, packed their […]<\/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-2709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2709","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=2709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2711,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2709\/revisions\/2711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}