(WACO, Texas) – A Texas State Technical College student has received a prestigious Women’s Industry Network scholarship.
Jennifer Watson, an Auto Collision and Management Technology student from Moody, was awarded the WIN College Tuition and Conference Scholarship Award.
Clint Campbell, the statewide department chair of TSTC’s Auto Collision and Management department, encouraged Watson to apply for the scholarship.
“We’ve only had three or four students ever receive that scholarship,” Campbell said. “She’s a very good student. She pays attention to detail, is hardworking and asks a lot of questions to make her work better.”
After submitting an essay and being interviewed, Watson received the scholarship.
“I was at my daughter’s talent show when I got the call,” Watson said.
Watson and other scholarship recipients receive a $1,000 scholarship, along with an all-expense-paid trip to the 2019 WIN Educational Conference.
“She’s a great student and the perfect person to get that scholarship because she will make use of it,” said Tracy Marshall, senior instructor for Auto Collision and Management at TSTC. “It gets her out into a different kind of world and opens up her social network contact.”
The conference took place May 6 through May 8 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
“Most sessions are about auto collision and the technology coming up,” Watson said.
She also had the opportunity to be mentored by one of the 2019 Most Influential Women Honorees or a member of the WIN Board of Directors.
“There are women at this conference that I can relate to,” Watson said. “I think that was my biggest thing was getting into a network with women I can identify myself with.”
Before attending TSTC, Watson held numerous jobs. She served six years in the military as a helicopter mechanic after high school.
“The military is all about organization, timelines and being prompt,” Watson said. “I do believe if I went to college out of high school, I wouldn’t have been successful. But coming after I was able to be focused and dedicated to what I had to do.”
After the military, Watson found a job with DynCorp (now DynCorp International).
“I worked for DynCorp for 12 years and decided it was time to go back to my passion: working on cars again and restoring them,” Watson said.
Watson said she has loved every minute of her time at TSTC.
“If you go into a career that you’re not happy with, it makes things miserable,” Watson said. “Once you find something you have a passion and love for, that’s where you’ll be the rest of your life. It makes it easier to get out of bed.”
For more information on the Women’s Industry Network, visit thewomensindustrynetwork.site-ym.com.
For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to www.tstc.edu.
