(HARLINGEN, Texas) – After recently graduating from Texas State Technical College’s Emergency Medical Services – EMT program, Jessie Rodriguez re-enrolled at TSTC, this time to become a paramedic.
Facing some financial challenges when she started the EMT program, Rodriguez had to find a creative solution to assemble the program’s uniform: blue cargo pants, blue polo shirt with the TSTC EMS logo on it, and black tactical boots. Her resourcefulness paid off at a local thrift shop.
“It didn’t take long to find the blue cargo pants,” she said. “But I was amazed to find the exact royal blue polo shirt with the TSTC EMS embroidering on it.”
No longer needing the uniform after she graduated with her EMT certificate of completion last December, Rodriguez decided to donate it to the program to help out someone else who might be facing the same situation that she had.
Ede Flores, a TSTC EMS instructor, recently let Rodriguez know that an EMT student had borrowed the shirt that she donated.
“I’m glad my donation could help another student who needed it,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez, who lives in Harlingen, works as a part-time EMT with Life Star EMS in Edinburg.
Yaretzy Morales, medic supervisor and dispatcher for Life Star EMS, highlighted Rodriguez’s dedication.
“I admire Jessie’s ability to navigate the challenges of balancing work and school while (she) maintains the demands that our EMS team experiences in the field,” Morales said.
Rodriguez said the skills that she learned in the lab and clinicals when she was an EMT student set the standard and expectations for her current job.
“In the Paramedic program, I’m learning a deeper explanation of what we do and why we do it,” she said.
In its Emergency Medical Services program, TSTC offers an Associate of Applied Science degree in Paramedic, as well as certificates of completion in Emergency Medical Services – EMT, Emergency Medical Services – Advanced EMT AEMT, and Emergency Medical Services – Paramedic. The program is available at the Abilene, Brownwood and Harlingen campuses.
To learn more about TSTC’s Emergency Medical Services program, go to tstc.edu/ems.
