Get out there and make a change
Student of the Week: Brenda Gonzalez
“My dad used to say to me ‘sure, you can stay home and nothing will happen and literally nothing will happen’ so if you don't get out there and do it, then it's not going to happen. If you want to make that change, you got to make it.”
For as long as she can remember, South Texas College has always represented the best part of the McAllen community, according to Brenda Gonzalez.
Growing up mere blocks away from the Pecan Campus, Gonzalez says her experience with the college goes back to the early South Texas Community College days, which she first attended in 2001 – until life happened. She gave birth to a son and needed to go to work.
For the last 16 years, Gonzalez said she immersed herself in an administrative career, handling accounting as well as maintaining procedures and policies for organizations and municipalities.
The experience enabled her to come back to STC for good and pursue an Associate of Applied Science in Public Administration.
“I have no problem with leading another group or helping people find their potential when it comes to maintaining procedures and policies, or maybe even coming up with new policies for prospective companies. It's kind of what I like to do,” she said. “I’m straightforward and I don't play games or I have time for them. I find satisfaction in organizing audits and payroll and similar duties.”
The Associates of Applied Science degree in Public Administration program is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary for employment in the public sector and not-for-profit programs.
The program enables students to understand the political, legal, ethical and social context of public administration allowing them to develop their understanding fpr positive organizational behavior. Students are instructed with the ability to apply appropriate methodologies to solve problems and issues.
Coursework for this program includes such areas as public sector management, budgeting, ethics and supervision. The program includes a three-credit-hour practicum designed to give the student real-world experience related to the area of their career interest.
“When I started I told myself ‘You've been gone for so long. You have no idea what's changed. You don't know how things work’ but I concentrated on one thing at a time, one class at a time, showing up, and most importantly always asking questions. I never stopped asking questions,” Gonzalez said. “My dad used to say to me ‘sure, you can stay home and nothing will happen and literally nothing will happen’ so if you don't get out there and do it, then it's not going to happen. If you want to make that change, you got to make it.”