(MARSHALL, Texas) – Marshall’s Memorial City Performance Hall went wild not once, but twice during Texas State Technical College’s Summer 2025 Commencement held Friday, Aug. 22.
The Marshall campus held two ceremonies, one exclusively recognizing 64 Electrical Lineworker and Management graduates. The majority of those graduates received certificates of completion from the program.
Mark Bayliss, an Electrical Lineworker and Management instructor at TSTC’s Marshall campus, said the reason why all of his students graduated together goes beyond their program name.
“They’ve all progressed in the program together, so it’s like one big family,” Bayliss said. “They take care of each other and help each other get jobs later down the road, so the bond that they build here lasts a lifetime.”
Some of the program’s graduates already had jobs with electric utility companies before they crossed the stage.
Ruben Espinoza, of Gilmer, has an internship with Upshur Rural Electric Cooperative and said he cannot wait to start doing what he loves professionally. He said he began attending TSTC because he had heard it was the best school for linework.
“It’s definitely the best school in the nation,” Espinoza said. “It lives up to its hype.”
Michael McMillian has a job with Shelton Energy Solutions in his hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. He shared Espinoza’s opinion about TSTC’s Electrical Lineworker and Management program.
“Just be sure it’s what you want to do,” McMillian advised any potential students. “(TSTC) didn’t become the best lineman school in the country because it was easy.”
Luis Espinoza, of Mount Pleasant, will be heading to Cumby to join Northeast Texas Power Ltd. He said his instructors pushed him to become a better person and his classmates helped him do better in the program.
“I had a great time at this school,” Espinoza said. “I’m really happy to graduate, and I look forward to seeing everyone in the future.”
Trinity Abbott received the Provost’s Outstanding Achievement Award along with her certificate of completion in Electrical Lineworker and Management.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.