TSTC students benefit from counselor’s extensive military counseling experience

(MARSHALL, Texas) – Growing up in a military family, Texas State Technical College Counseling and Mental Health Services counselor Angela Bross once dreamed of flying helicopters for the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Unable to enlist due to health reasons, Bross discovered another way to serve: military counseling.

“I found that I was interested in how the brain works and is put together, how people are who they are and how they learn,” she said. “That’s how I got into psychology.”

Through her studies, Bross became interested in post-traumatic stress disorder. She chose to make it her primary field of expertise, having no idea just how far that decision would take her.

After receiving the proper credentials, Bross found work across Europe in countries like Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. She provided counseling services for every branch of the U.S. military except, ironically, the Coast Guard.

In 2019, when faced with the decision either to return to a U.S. military base in the United Kingdom or to return home to the states, Bross took a friend’s advice and applied to be a counselor at TSTC’s Marshall campus.

“I thought, ‘I won’t have to go to the U.K., and (TSTC) is close to home. I can do this until I get an assignment that I really want,’” Bross said. “Well, that was four years ago, and I’m still here because I like it.”

Bross said the interview process with TSTC happened quickly. According to TSTC’s statewide Counseling and Mental Health Services lead Amy Buchanan, there is no question as to why that was.

“Angela came to TSTC with more knowledge and experience than 10 counselors combined,” Buchanan said. “She not only impacts the students at TSTC, but she continues to mentor and act as a pillar to the faculty and staff as well.”

While working with a different age group took some getting used to, Bross continues to dedicate herself to her job and the students at TSTC, even offering her counseling services after hours and on weekends and holidays if needed.

“I enjoy the people I work with, and I really enjoy the students,” Bross said. “It’s like working with family. It’s like coming home every day, and that I enjoy.”

Registration for TSTC’s spring semester is underway. For more information, visit tstc.edu.