(CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas) – Texas State Technical College is painting Corpus Christi red, white and blue.
More than 240 students from 10 of TSTC’s campuses have gathered in the Coastal Bend for this week’s 2025 SkillsUSA Texas Leadership and Skills Conference. Students and faculty members traveled in charter buses and arrived on Tuesday, April 1.
SkillsUSA is a professional organization focused on employability, leadership and technical skills that help college students pursue successful careers and be part of a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA has more than 100 contests at the state and national levels in which students can compete, including 3D Visualization and Animation and Welding Fabrication.
The first contest took place on Wednesday, April 2, as TeamWorks groups from the Harlingen and Waco campuses began their two-day build in the parking lot of the American Bank Center. Each TeamWorks team features four students who do carpentry, electrical, masonry, plumbing and roofing skills.
Some students spent time on Wednesday with their faculty advisors preparing for contests being held later in the week.
Ethan Scarborough, of Round Rock, is a Precision Machining Technology graduate from TSTC’s Williamson County campus, and is currently enrolled in additional courses for further skill growth. He said this is his third time at SkillsUSA, and hopes it is the charm.
“I’m really hoping to medal this time,” Scarborough said. “We have worked really hard to plan, troubleshoot, and be ready for anything. I wanted to do this again to show them I’m the best, and I want to have fun.”
Students have various reasons they chose to undertake the challenge of competing in SkillsUSA.
Michael Cooley, of Harlingen, is a fifth-semester Cybersecurity student at TSTC’s Harlingen campus. He will compete in the Internetworking contest on Friday, April 4. Cooley said he was recruited by program faculty.
Cooley said the contest will test his skills in configuring routers, servers and switches, troubleshooting networking systems, scripting, and other tasks.
“I am a very dedicated student,” he said. “I really do my due diligence studying the material within every category.”
Jack Harris, of Sugar Land, is a Welding Technology student at TSTC’s Fort Bend County campus. He will take part in Friday’s Welding contest at Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd. in Ingleside. Though Harris does not know yet what the contest will involve, he said he is enjoying meeting new people.
Harris began welding during his junior year at I.H. Kempner High School in Sugar Land.
“It’s like therapy in a way,” he said about welding. “It is like art, seeing how it turned out.”
The conference ends with a closing ceremony, where medals will be awarded, on Saturday, April 5, at the American Bank Center.
Students winning gold medals at the state level are qualified to participate in the 2025 SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference being held June 23-27 in Atlanta, Georgia.
For more information on SkillsUSA Texas, go to skillsusatx.org.
For more information on TSTC, go to tstc.edu.
