(MARSHALL, Texas) – Trinity Abbott was inspired to join Texas State Technical College’s Electrical Lineworker and Management Technology program because she enjoys being outdoors.
“I could never work in an office,” she said. “It’s too much being inside.”
Abbott is the only female currently enrolled in the program at TSTC’s Marshall campus. She said the first few weeks were the hardest, but that she grew stronger and became more at ease with support from her instructors and fellow students.
“Making it this far makes me proud,” Abbott said. “I never say ‘quit’ on anything; it’s like a foreign language to me.”
Victor Verzal, an Electrical Lineworker and Management Technology instructor for TSTC’s Marshall campus, said Abbott’s perseverance in accomplishing things independently is something that he and the other instructors admire.
“To accomplish getting through the first semester and getting her assessments done, not only in the time frame that all of the other guys have to, but even doing it better and faster than some of them, that shows her determination to get better,” he said.
Abbott is currently in her second semester at TSTC and plans to graduate with her certificate of completion next August. She said she aims to use her future earnings to help support her family.
Abbott encourages other women who are interested in becoming electrical lineworkers to pursue the program at TSTC.
“It’s going to be really hard at first,” she said. “But if they put in a lot of work, stay positive and don’t give up at all, they can make it.”
According to onetonline.org, electrical power-line installers and repairers earn a median salary of $72,510 in Texas, where the number of these jobs was projected to grow 24% between 2020 and 2030.
Electrical Lineworker and Management Technology is offered at TSTC’s Abilene, Fort Bend County, Harlingen, Marshall and Waco campuses. The program offers a certificate of completion and an Associate of Applied Science degree.
The program is part of TSTC’s Money-Back Guarantee, which refunds a participating graduate’s tuition if he or she has not found a job within six months after graduation.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
