(MARSHALL, Texas) – Carol O’Reilly has packed a lot into her 12 years of working at Texas State Technical College.
She started as an administrative assistant, became an enrollment coach, then decided to use previously earned college credits and pursue a degree in TSTC’s Business Management Technology program. Recently she was promoted to her current job as associate manager of enrollment and admissions at TSTC’s Marshall campus.
Before attending TSTC, O’Reilly was unable to obtain a college degree due to frequent relocations with her husband, who served in the U.S. Army.
“I’d already had several business and academic classes, but I just hadn’t had a chance to complete anything,” she said.
After her husband retired from the military, O’Reilly and her family settled in Texas and she began working for TSTC.
Later on, O’Reilly enrolled in TSTC’s Business Management Technology program to advance in her career and finally obtain a college degree. She was able to skip several courses using credits she had earned in the past.
“Even if you have a lot of credit hours, if you don’t have that certification, there are some positions you can’t apply for,” she said. “So it opened up my ability to apply for some positions.”
O’Reilly graduated with her Associate of Applied Science degree in 2019. A year later, her hard work as a TSTC employee was recognized with the college’s Chancellor’s Excellence Award, now known as the Chancellor’s Cornerstone Award.
“I’m the type where I’m going to try and do a good job anyway, for my teammates and for myself, but it’s nice that you feel like your peers and leadership notice your work ethic and your effort,” she said.
Among her other duties, O’Reilly supervises Johnathan Gaither, an Automation and Controls Technology student, in his work-study job at TSTC.
“She definitely looks out for the interests of the students,” Gaither said of O’Reilly. “She wants to make sure that she has everybody’s ducks in a row. All of the students that were under her as an enrollment coach, she took care of.”
O’Reilly is currently settling into the management side of enrollment.
“I really like TSTC,” she said. “I think we actually change students’ lives. I don’t think I would stay somewhere that I felt the students weren’t a priority.”
Registration for TSTC’s fall semester is underway. For more information, go to tstc.edu.