Representing STC with scholarship win

Driven by a childhood passion and supported by family encouragement, South Texas College student Trevor Huddleston has earned an outstanding opportunity to help pay for his education. 

Huddleston, a 2022 Sharyland Pioneer High School graduate, plans to earn an associate degree in Law Enforcement from STC before pursuing a career with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Huddleston was recently awarded a $3,000 scholarship from the Valley Automobile Dealers Association for the 2022-2023 school year. He was one of three students to receive the top scholarship amount, and the only STC student out of 29 recipients.  The scholarship is awarded to employees and dependents of employees at all participating Rio Grande Valley dealerships. 

Huddleston learned about the scholarship opportunity from his grandmother, Donna Shawhan, a marketing manager for Payne Auto Group. Huddleston said from a young age, she has helped him learn how the business industry worked. And, for the last 10 years, he has represented Payne as the Bimmy mascot. 

“Every chance I get, I’ll go and put the costume on,” Huddleston said. “It’s given me the biggest opportunity with Payne. I really owe most of this to my grandmother. She’s the one who gave me the opportunity and she’s helped me so much.”

Although Huddleston initially planned to enter the welding trade, he recently decided he’s happier pursuing law enforcement. He was exposed to the field in high school, when he joined the Texas Public Safety Association, a nonprofit career technical student organization.

“I honestly fell in love with law enforcement in high school with classes I took,” Huddleston said. “And I owe that to my teacher, Mr. (Gilbert) Luna. He was previously a police officer and now he’s a teacher, and showed me how awesome it will be. I feel it’s going to be a humbling career, but very rewarding.”

Although Huddleston was accepted to other colleges, he decided STC would be the best fit for his educational needs since a “big school environment” didn’t appeal to him. He wanted to attend a college that was close-knit and could offer him the ability to reach his professional career quickly. Plus, he said he’s always been familiar with what STC has to offer since his mother often attended career fairs on campus as a Career and Technical Education counselor for Sharyland Pioneer High School. 

“That’s what led me to be comfortable here,” Huddleston said. “I can walk around and kind of know my way; I like the campus and the personability of STC. And, for me, it’s affordable, too. I can graduate and not worry about paying off student debt for years. That’s one of the things I’m super grateful for.” 

And, while he’s getting ready to begin his classes at STC, he’s also thinking of the step beyond college, knowing he can achieve both his academic and career goals at the same time. He’s already starting the process of applying to the U.S. Border Patrol. 

“I’ve just really been looking forward to it,” Huddleston said. “I know my associate degree from STC will help me move up the ranks. That’s my goal.”

Huddleston encourages other students to also explore electives and extracurriculars to learn about career options that they might not have considered.

“Take the arts or agriculture and classes like that,” Huddleston said. “That’s how we find our passion. That’s how I found mine…that’s how I found law enforcement. And honestly, without those extracurriculars, I probably wouldn’t know what I wanted to do. You don’t know until you try.”