(RED OAK, Texas) -Texas State Technical College has played a large role in the life of a couple on TSTC’s North Texas campus.
Joshua and Jaime Burchett met at a baseball game where Jaime’s son and Joshua’s nephew were playing.
“We kept looking at each other,” Joshua Burchett said. “Whenever she would turn around, I would look away, but then I would catch her doing it. The next game that I went to, I brought her coffee, and then it kind of took off from there.”
The Burchetts have now been married for four years, and during that time TSTC has been a big part of their lives.
Joshua Burchett graduated from TSTC’s North Texas campus in May 2022 with an Associate of Applied Science degree and returned in August to be a technical instructor, a job that had become his dream job during his time as a student.
“When we got into the upper-level classes, starting fourth semester, we got to the point where I was kind of hanging back and helping instruct the other guys who didn’t have as much experience,” he said. “Once we finished with classes in the fourth semester, I said, ‘Man, I would love to do this for a living.’ And then one of the other instructors said, ‘We’re talking about opening a position right now.’”
Jaime Burchett began work as an enrollment coach at TSTC in July 2022, just a month before her husband started his job. She had previously been working in North Dallas but wanted a job that would be closer to home and allow her to support others.
“Josh had come here as a student, so I had been on that side of it as a wife,” she said. “I wanted to be able to be like, ‘Oh, I can help other people to achieve their goals and be able to get out and go to work and provide for their families better.’”
At TSTC, the Burchetts have found jobs that they love and are able to share with each other.
“It’s been really nice knowing that you can have a professional work relationship with a number of people, including your spouse,” Jaime Burchett said.
The couple have both felt the impact of TSTC from when Joshua Burchett was a student, and now they are working to give back as employees.
“Most of us know what it’s like to be at the bottom of the barrel, scraping by, making ends meet,” Joshua Burchett said. “A lot of people I work with know that as well as I do … we’re working to not only teach these guys a good trade that they can carry throughout their life, but something that’s going to be able to help them take care of their families.”
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
