{"id":3250,"date":"2018-08-06T08:00:07","date_gmt":"2018-08-06T08:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3250"},"modified":"2018-08-03T14:39:22","modified_gmt":"2018-08-03T14:39:22","slug":"tstc-welding-instructor-celebrates-35-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=3250","title":{"rendered":"TSTC welding instructor celebrates 35 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – It was 1982. The United States President was Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller\u201d album was released, E.T. The Extraterrestrial warmed the hearts of millions, a gallon of gas was 91 cents and Jose Salas began his career at Texas State Technical College.<\/p>\n

The TSTC Welding Technology instructor was recently honored at TSTC\u2019s Employee Appreciation Day for his 35 years of service to the college.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had an amazing career and great opportunities at TSTC,\u201d said Salas. \u201cI wake up ready to work and leave fulfilled every day. TSTC has been good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Harlingen native began as a part-time employee in the Central Receiving department.at what was then Texas State Technical Institute.<\/p>\n

When he took the job he had just withdrawn from Pan American University, now the University of Rio Grande Valley, where he was studying kinesiology, to help his brother manage the grocery story their parents had left them when they died.\"Jose<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBy 11 years old I had lost both my parents to health issues and it was my grandmother who raised us six kids,\u201d said Salas. \u201cSo it was only right that I help my brother out, but I wanted more.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, a year later, he took a full-time opportunity with Welding Technology in the tool crib issuing tools, supplies and equipment to welding students and decided to enroll as a welding student as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was a welding fabricator in the 1940\u2019s so that\u2019s where my interest in welding comes from,\u201d said Salas. \u201cThis was a perfect match for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salas is proof that it is never too late to earn a degree and make your dream come true.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t earn his associate degree in Welding Technology until recently in 2004, nearly two decades after he started.<\/p>\n

Working by day and taking classes by night, Salas took his time, even gaining other opportunities during his career at TSTC as a maintenance mechanic, welding lab assistant and full-time faculty.<\/p>\n

\u201cTSTC is the \u2018Jewel of the Valley,\u2019 that\u2019s what I call it,\u201d said Salas. \u201cWe are in the business of changing students\u2019 lives and their journey becomes ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salas said his favorite part of his job is watching his students grow and lead successful lives and careers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my students who keep me going,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople tell me I\u2019ll never be rich doing what I do, but I always tell them that I don\u2019t need to be rich. I\u2019m happy, I\u2019m making a difference and to me that\u2019s rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC Welding Instructor Kenny Moore has known Salas for nearly 30 years and has worked with him for at least two decades.<\/p>\n

Moore first met Salas as a welding student in the 1980\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cJose would issue us our tools. His care for us as students was always evident in the way he would go above and beyond,\u201d said Moore. \u201cLittle did I know that I would get to work with him someday and I\u2019m so happy to be able to work side by side a man of integrity who still cares so much about his students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore added, \u201cI hope our department and TSTC is lucky enough to have him around for a few more years. I couldn\u2019t ask for a better guy to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 60-year-old Salas said his goal is to hit 40 years at TSTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI plan on staying around as long as I am able to and there is room for me,\u201d said Salas. \u201cI\u2019m not done doing my job just yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Salas added, \u201cBut when I do retire, I look forward to spending more time with my family, especially my wife Sylvia, who also retired from TSTC\u2019s Business Office after 35 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSTC prides itself on being a great place to work and is listed as one of Harlingen\u2019s top employers. For more information on job opportunities at TSTC, go online at: tstc.edu\/about\/employment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(HARLINGEN) – It was 1982. The United States President was Ronald Reagan, Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller\u201d album was released, E.T. The Extraterrestrial warmed the hearts of millions, a gallon of gas was 91 cents and Jose Salas began his career at Texas State Technical College. The TSTC Welding Technology instructor was recently honored at TSTC\u2019s Employee […]<\/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-3250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-harlingen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250","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=3250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3252,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3250\/revisions\/3252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}