{"id":988,"date":"2016-11-11T20:25:57","date_gmt":"2016-11-11T20:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=988"},"modified":"2016-11-11T20:25:57","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T20:25:57","slug":"tstc-employee-celebrates-40th-work-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/?p=988","title":{"rendered":"TSTC Employee Celebrates 40th Work Anniversary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-989\" src=\"http:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660-300x243.jpg\" alt=\"dsc_0660\" width=\"300\" height=\"243\" srcset=\"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660-300x243.jpg 300w, https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660-768x623.jpg 768w, https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660-1024x831.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660-624x506.jpg 624w, https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/DSC_0660.jpg 1932w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>(SWEETWATER) &#8211; When Si Acu\u00f1a began working at Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, he thought he would only be there for a few years. Now he finds himself in his 40th year at TSTC.<\/p>\n<p>Acu\u00f1a began working at the college in 1976 as a lab assistant in Automotive Technology.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was thinking I would stick around and see how long I was going to stay,&#8221; Acu\u00f1a said. &#8220;I thought I would maybe go and do something else after that. I started as a lab assistant and moved on to an instructor, then moved on to master instructor for many years, and I was the department chair for years on and off. The program just kept going and going.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With the development of advanced technology in cars, Acu\u00f1a has seen much change throughout his time at TSTC.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the last 15 years or so, technology has changed so rapidly,&#8221; Acu\u00f1a said. &#8220;The curriculum has changed quite a bit to keep up. In my time here, we&#8217;ve grown from being in a small building to a larger building where we are now. We have a lot more space and more classrooms with a well-equipped shop.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He keeps up with the technology by reading and maintaining membership in professional organizations.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been a member of many organizations that send out information and host conferences, like the Mobile Air Conditioning Society, the Automotive Service Association and the Automatic Transmission Association,&#8221; Acu\u00f1a said. &#8220;Being part of those organizations, going to conferences and continuing to study on my own, I&#8217;m learning all the time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Acu\u00f1a is proud to have made a difference at TSTC.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m glad I was part of it,&#8221; Acu\u00f1a said. &#8220;I helped to train a lot of students. One of the things I really like is working with the students and training them. The training is what&#8217;s really kept me here so long, being able to pass on my knowledge to other people.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Overall, his favorite moment in teaching is seeing his students succeed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I have a lot of favorite moments, but I guess what is the best is when I see them cross the stage and they get a job,&#8221; Acu\u00f1a said. &#8220;That&#8217;s the greatest one.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">-#-<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(SWEETWATER) &#8211; When Si Acu\u00f1a began working at Texas State Technical College in Sweetwater, he thought he would only be there for a few years. Now he finds himself in his 40th year at TSTC. Acu\u00f1a began working at the college in 1976 as a lab assistant in Automotive Technology. &#8220;I was thinking I would [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sweetwater"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988","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=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":990,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.tstc.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}