(WACO, Texas) – For Kelby Rogers, collision repair work has a family connection.
“I grew up around my grandfather and watched him in the shop, and it interested me,” said Rogers, of Mount Vernon, Texas.
Rogers is in his last semester in Texas State Technical College’s Auto Collision and Management program at the Waco campus. He is scheduled to receive an Associate of Applied Science degree in Auto Collision and Management Technology – Repair Specialization in December.
A nationwide scholarship is helping Rogers make it through his final semester. He is a recipient of a $3,000 CCC Michael Salvatore Repair Technician Scholarship given through the Collision Repair Education Foundation.
Rogers said the money will enable him to graduate debt-free. He said he works to pay for college and uses FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) funding.
Some of the skills he has learned in the Auto Collision and Management program include alignment, estimating, metal repair, and welding.
“During the first semester, it was a cool experience seeing how everything works and the tools in the shop,” Rogers said.
Misael Camarena, of Hillsboro, is in his third semester of the program’s refinishing and repair specializations and has taken some classes with Rogers. Camarena said Rogers has a good work ethic and asks questions when he is having difficulty in class.
Rogers wants to find a collision repair job in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after graduation and perhaps own his own repair shop later in his career.
“He is a hardworking kid,” Jesse Hildebrandt, an instructor in TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management program, said of Rogers. “He will be doing well in the career field.”
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.