(ROSENBERG, Texas) – For Jose Jimenez, stepping back into the Auto Collision and Management program at Texas State Technical College’s Fort Bend County campus as an instructor marked a full-circle moment in his career.
“Transitioning from the shop’s production floor to the auto collision program has been rewarding and challenging,” Jimenez said. “I learned that I need to break each step apart so students can fully grasp the work of an auto body repairer.”
Jose Reyna is the program’s lead instructor.
“There is a level of credibility and relatability that comes from being a former student who built his skills, entered the industry and came back to invest in our students,” Reyna said. “He is modeling a long-term commitment to the trade.”
After earning two certificates of completion in 2003 from TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management Technology program at the Fort Bend County campus, Jimenez spent 13 years working as an auto body repairer, followed by a shop supervisor at Pekar’s Body Shop, Inc, in Wharton before returning to TSTC as an instructor.
“The repair work I did at Pekar’s Body Shop covered a range of automobile accidents such as damage from accidents involving animals to bumper-to-bumper crashes,” he said.
Jimenez has emphasized the value of hands-on learning at TSTC.
“Students should treat every automobile they work on as if it belongs to a paying customer,” he said. “That mindset reinforces time management, precision and accountability.”
The Rosenberg native said students should be adaptable in an evolving industry.
“There is always new automobile technology and updated repair procedures emerging,” he said. “I teach students to understand not just what they see on the surface, but also the materials and structural systems underneath.”
Jimenez credits TSTC with training him for success in the field.
“The instructors gave me the foundation, skills and confidence I needed to build a great career,” he said. “Now, I’m proud to pass my knowledge and watch our students transform their own skills.”
According to onetonline.org, automotive body and related repairers in Texas earn an average of $50,350 a year. The website projected that there would be a 13% increase in the number of such jobs in the state from 2022 to 2032.
TSTC offers Associate of Applied Science degrees in Auto Collision and Management with refinishing and repair specializations at the Fort Bend County, Harlingen and Waco campuses. Several certificate options also are available.
For more information, go to tstc.edu.