As the Drama Department chair at South Texas College, Rodriguez says his approach to the arts has been about cultivating communication among students and looking at theater in a way that is more than just entertainment.

It’s about bringing communities together and opening a dialogue to discuss what happens in those communities, he said. Most importantly, it is about utilizing the power of education, strengthening communities, and using the arts to bridge the gap between them.

Theater after all is about the phenomenon that occurs among relationships with people, and using that to bring about change, Rodriguez said.

“We have seen our graduated students become really successful in what they do, and a lot of it goes back to us getting an understanding that in our field of work, in what we do, everything is about how you are able to work with people,” Rodriguez said. “How is it that you're able to speak with people not just on the creative side, but through their own world perspective?

“We tell students to check their ego and keep their personal stuff outside of the theater because we all have baggage. Focus on the work. Focus on the people, and then go for it,” Rodriguez said.

Originally from Houston, Rodriguez says a career in education has always been his top priority, followed closely by a need to assist people in communities. It’s where his approach to theater derives, he said.

Graduating from the University of St. Thomas in Houston in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, Rodriguez then delved into working for non-profit groups, which were focused more on social issues and public service work.

It was during his undergraduate studies that Rodriguez worked for the Office of Volunteer Opportunities. As a program volunteer and then as volunteer coordinator, Rodriguez said he would contribute for hunger and homelessness programs or HIV/AIDS education programs.

A portion of this volunteer work was also devoted to doing artwork with individuals living in homeless shelters, or assisting with after school programs and mentorship programs for young people in elementary or middle schools.

This job would provide a natural segue into his next role as an educator in the arts, and enabled him to find ajob at Brown University at the Howard Swearer Center for Public Service as their volunteer coordinator for nearly two years.

After Brown, Rodriguez said he worked as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer with Dallas Children's Theater. That job presented him with a full on arts education program that tasked him with incorporating the arts into education in order to enhance the curricula there.

“In some way, shape, or form the arts always came back into the work that I did, but I didn't understand why,” Rodriguez said. “We were really focused on looking at the social studies chapters and bringing those to life using theater, art, dance and every other aspect we could think of.

“What our work showed was that the arts provided that additional boost for excellence for the students,” he said. “It was then that I realized what I wanted to do and ended up going to UT Austin for my Master of Fine Arts degree. When I came on board to the program I was only one of six to get in.”

So finally slowing down from a journey that had him traveling from Houston to Boston, then Providence to Dallas and finally Austin within a span of less than ten years, Rodriguez said he made his way to the Rio Grande Valley in 2003.

He began his career in the Valley teaching Biology and Theater Arts to middle school students, an experience he said was eye opening and terrifying but necessary. It would provide him with the inspiration to finally start his dream career doing what he loves, he said.

“I think my biggest inspiration was taking stock of myself and realizing that for every path I took, I was still doing the work that I was meant to be doing,” he said. “I am committed to public service. I am committed to social change, and theater and art always had a part in that.”

The advent of STC’s Drama Department coincided with the opening of the college’s Cooper Center for Communication Arts in 2008. Both are celebrating their 10th year anniversary this year.

Rodriguez began with the drama department in 2010, following in the footsteps of Dr. Jack Carroll, who was the founding director of the program.

Cooper Center holds anywhere from four to five plays a year which vary from drama, comedy, and musicals with the intent to spark curiosity and appreciation for fine arts for all attendees.

Students will spend roughly six weeks from the beginning of a production to opening night preparing for the plays. During this time, students dedicate their time learning their scripts, getting measured for their outfits, which they make from scratch, and designing their own stage lighting among many other tasks.

There were an estimated 63,000 jobs in the fine arts field as of 2016, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment is expected to grow 12 percent from 2016 to 2026.

Rodriguez says he works with over 100 students every semester and helps propel them into their career paths as drama teachers, actors, and successful fine arts professionals.

“A lot of it goes back to the mentorship that we offer. It's not just the instruction,” said Jason. “It's getting them to understand what the transition's going to be for them from high school theatre to college theatre and what the expectations are.”

“For acting a lot of what we go back to is taking those baby steps to understand how your thoughts, your body, your voice all connect in a way that creates this feeling of being authentic,” expressed Rodriguez.

Jason says he looks to continue bringing culture to the area as well as big city opportunities to small town students.

As the curtains close, and the lights fade, Rodriguez says that while theatre is his calling, he says the bigger picture is life and finding your passion.

“In the end, it’s about building up those successes for students so that when they're finally way up there, they feel like they own the world,” said Rodriguez. “We also look at how we can impact what is going on in the world with the plays we do.”

Being battle-hardened in the industry however doesn’t mean much if you can’t pass your knowledge on to students who have the same desire to succeed as professionals, creators, and especially as artists, Guerra said.

“When you wake up in the morning, if you are not thinking that you have the ability to make a difference, or if you are not thinking that your voice matters, then you are doing something wrong,” she said. “I think that my journey in education has supplemented my journey in the industry so much in my ability to take my practical experience and really teach students; to deliver the message better.

“There's a difference between doing and teaching,” she said. “My education has really helped me in the practice of delivery, and helped me understand diversity.”

Guerra said she discovered a love for cooking very early in life. A friend of the family operated a small Greek-inspired restaurant next door to the store her mother operated in a suburb of Chicago, and she started busing tables at the age of 12. It only took her one week until she was working in the kitchen, Guerra said.

By the time she was in high school, Guerra said she was putting in full-time hours at the restaurant while learning her craft.

“Before I even finished high school, I became a supervisor and a chef's assistant, so I basically had a semi-management position,” she said. “I worked full-time through high school, not because I needed to, but because I loved it. I loved everything about it.”

Her passion would enable her to attend the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York right after high school to begin her formal education. Her first experience in college was humbling and often intimidating, she said.

The Culinary Institute of America has been providing the world's best professional culinary education for more than seventy years. While the school currently has a makeup that is 50 percent male and 50 percent female, that wasn’t always the case, Guerra said.

“The chefs there would actually take bets on when girls were going to drop out, and they would give us tasks that were very physically demanding,” Guerra said. “When we were instructed to serve other students as part of the program, I was often given the chef’s table, and they would stack 16 plates on a tray.

“You would see them all throw their money into the middle of the table to see who was going to drop the tray,” Guerra said. “Things like that did not break me. Things like that made me prove them wrong. Truth be told, there were times when I was in that program that I was ready to say ‘I'm done’ but the more people told me I couldn't, the more I proved them wrong.”

After two years, Guerra received her Associate degree in Culinary Arts from CIA and then immediately went to work in the industry. While in the industry she has held a variety of positions including executive chef, general manager, and director of kitchen operations as well as owning her own business.

Then an opportunity for a career change changed her life forever. In 2011, she became a judge for a cooking competition that was being held on campus at STC, and she soon discovered that the college had a culinary program.

The process was gradual at first, but she fell in love with teaching from then on, she said.

“The chair at the time asked me if I wanted to come teach, but I wasn't sure that it was for me because I'd always seen myself in a restaurant environment,” she said. “I still worked at the restaurant part-time to start but after that first semester I knew this as the direction for me.

“I just fell in love with teaching, and it has been an awesome experience of personal growth,” she said.

She also returned to college after working for years in the industry. She received her bachelor degree in Organizational Leadership from South Texas College and then received her Master’s Degree in Education from George Washington University.

She is currently working on her doctorate in education from Baylor University.

“I think that the years in the industry helped me to know what they (students) are really going to face,” she said. “We can fill ourselves with all sorts of theory and belief of what an industry holds, but until you've actually been in the thick of it do you understand what it really takes.”

As demand for culinary arts professionals continues to grow across the country, programs like STC’s play a critical role in making sure regional employers have the professionals they need to prosper. Texas is the fourth largest employer of chefs and head cooks in the nation, and demand is projected to grow at a rate of 10 percent by 2026, according to the U.S Department of Labor.

Since her start at STC in 2011, Guerra said the program has worked hard to revise the curriculum within Culinary Arts to better meet the needs of the region and its students, or what she calls “knives in hands and fire under pans.”

The program has added numerous courses for students including a new Associate in Applied Science with a specialization in Baking and Pastry Arts. For fall 2019, students can look ahead to four new courses including Meat Preparation and Cooking, Professional Kitchen Essentials, Cake Baking and Production, and Quantity Bakeshop Production.

When asked to put into words what facets of her life have driven her to succeed not only as a professional chef, but as an instructor later in life, Guerra says nothing could have happened without the passion to achieve anything she set her mind to.

Whether through good food, teaching, or the great family she found in the Rio Grande Valley, Guerra says nothing compares to the power you have to change something for the better.

“I tell my students that they have to get in there,” Guerra said. “I think that all the years in the industry helped me develop some thick skin, and some belief that you've got to push for the things that you want,” she said. “When you're out there, the kitchen environment is not something that just hands things over very easily and I don't think people realize how competitive the industry is.

“Students are going to get some bumps and bruises as they work their way up, but if this is what they really want, then they have got to push through, they just have to keep proving themselves out there,” Guerra said.

As the Department Chair for the Associate Degree Nursing Program, Dr. Candelaria says being a role model for student success is her priority.

“I feel that a part of me is with that person, even if it's only one semester that I touched that person’s life, I’m a part of that,” expressed Dr. Candelaria. “The self-fulfillment and legacy that I see in the people that I have educated is priceless.”

“We have graduates who advance their education to be nurse practitioners and certified nurse anesthetists. Some of them are working in management positions now and then they look back and see me, and say ‘Hi, you were my professor,’ and that is a legacy.”

Despite her many successes, Dr. Candelaria says she will always stay grounded and remember her roots in the Philippines. Being raised in a family of ten, in a third world country, Candelaria said there was no financial help available for an education.

“Our parents would send us to school and pay money out of their own pockets,” explained Candelaria. “I've always wanted to be an alumnus of something great other than the schools that I've been to.”

Candelaria started her academic journey in the Philippines where she spent five years studying to be a bachelor’s prepared registered nurse. With a vision to attend an Ivy League University, she refused to let her struggles bring her down.

“I realized that it wasn’t impossible. I applied to come over to the United States,” said Dr. Candelaria. “My primary goal was of course, to work and to help my family out, but the second goal was to go to school.”

With bags in hand ready to board a plane to New York, Dr. Candelaria says Columbia University was in her sights.

“My goal was set, Columbia University, and why? It was my chance to fulfill a dream.”

In the process, Dr. Candelaria said she was eager to pursue her master’s degree in nursing education at the Teachers College of Columbia University which has graduated more than 13,000 nurses since its founding in 1982. The University is also well known for attracting international students like Dr. Candelaria.

Upon acceptance into Columbia University, Dr. Candelaria said she wasted no time in starting classes. She was delighted to see that the class sizes were small because there was more one-on-one experiences with professors.

“What helped me out was the fact that the class sizes were only about 12 students,” explained Dr. Candelaria. “Since classes were small, everyone was always engaged in the conversation so it was hard not to talk or participate. The professors were very encouraging and excellence is the norm.”

Dr. Candelaria says moving from a university in the Philippines to Columbia University was very different as classes were structured differently.

“At Columbia, I was expected to be more focused on evidence-based practice and research,” said Dr. Candelaria. “We did not adhere to textbooks. We were given autonomy to choose our projects, most of which focused on the community.”

“Attending Columbia University was challenging since it is a huge university,” expressed Dr. Candelaria. “However, it felt amazing to be in a university where I was surrounded by students and faculty from all over the world.”

With Columbia University now under her belt, Candelaria says she looks to share the lessons she has learned with students and staff of STC. She encourages students never to settle in their education.

“I want the students to always keep moving forward and to keep learning,” expressed Dr. Candelaria.

“STC recognizes talent and graduates about 250 students with ADN degrees annually,” explained Candelaria. "I never stopped being a real nurse by being an educator. Come to think of it, when I'm working at the bedside, I am only one RN. But by being an academic nurse educator, I am helping produce more qualified RNs for the various healthcare facilities in the RGV.”

With hard work and dedication, Dr. Candelaria has been the recipient of many accolades including the Distinguished Teaching and Learning Award for South Texas College Hall of Fame, National Institute of Staff and Organizational Development Award (NISOD), and the Jaguar award.

Much like caring for a patient, Dr. Candelaria says she will continue to keep the nursing program at STC healthy and vibrant for years to come.

“I do the best that I can every day in whatever capacity I am in when I come to work. The knowledge, skills, and attitudes I obtained at Columbia University is the foundation of who I am at STC.”

Now armed with the knowledge of how to succeed academically at the highest level, Lozano, who currently serves as the program chair for STC’s Architectural Engineering Design Technology (AEDT) program, says her experience with college began like many students who come from a small town in the Rio Grande Valley.

Lugging her two big suitcases into the airport on that summer day in 2001, Lozano remembers her encounter with a Valley student as they both boarded the plane to New Haven, Conn. on their way to Yale University. As they waved goodbye to their families, Lozano said there was a sense of accomplishment just being able to break the mold for what was expected from Valley students at that time.

Coming from Edcouch, Lozano had decided early on that she would build a career stemming from her love for architecture and design. Even though she followed in the footsteps of her three older sisters who had all gone on to elite schools, she said adapting to life at an Ivy League institution presented some unique challenges.

“As I arrived at Yale, I looked around the classroom and realized that half the students had gone to private schools or had gone to boarding schools and so they were used to the culture of college, but it was very new to me,” Lozano said. “Luckily I think I adapted well, made good friends, and made progress academically because it was a huge privilege just to get accepted at Yale. And I understood that I was fortunate to be given this opportunity, so I stayed focused on my goals and knew there were people counting on me to succeed.”

She began at Yale in 2001 and within the first few weeks of her first semester in college, September 11 happened.

Suddenly feeling alone and unsure about finding her way home in the aftermath of the tragedy, the experience of 9/11 during her first year at college opened her eyes to the world and made her grow up fast, she said.

This prompted her to make an extra effort to find mentors and she connected quickly with a small but vocal community of Latino students at Yale’s Latino Cultural Center. She associated with Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and Mexicans, which she says eventually became like a second family.

She also befriended the Assistant Dean Rosalinda Garcia who famously is credited with helping significantly grow Yale’s Latino community. Garcia would go on to become the Assistant Vice President of Student Life at Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio in 2014.

On the way to receiving her Bachelor of Arts degree in Architecture from Yale, Lozano said she studied architectural design, structural concepts, and architecture history as she prepared to enter the workforce.

Yale is considered one of the top architecture schools in the United States, according to Architectural Record, a national trade magazine that since 1891 has been dedicated to architecture and interior design.

Women make up more than 46 percent of the program, while Hispanics and Latinos comprise more than five percent of the total student body. https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools/yale-university-school-of-architecture-000_10044879.aspx

“In learning architecture and design, there was really this collaborative environment that was created there, which I loved,” Lozano said. “While earning my degree I also worked at the dining hall at one of the residential colleges. I got to know the cafeteria staff really well and really felt like I was taken care of while away from home. As I said, there was always the sense of mentorship and of family.”

Right out of college, Lozano said she began teaching third-grade students before landing her first job at an architecture firm. While there, she was informed about the opportunity to begin teaching architectural drafting at South Texas College and eventually made the transition into academia in 2007.

The decision to teach at STC, she said, derived from her roots in Edcouch and her commitment to education and giving back to the Rio Grande Valley community.

“I share with my students that I never forgot where I was from,” she said. “I never tried to hide where I was from, I never tried to hide my culture, I never tried to hide the things that were familiar to me. I learned a lot about myself while I was at Yale and what influenced me the most to return to the RGV was that sense of community. Even though I had been pulled from my familiarity, you know, from my familiar culture and my familiar home, I was still aware of my responsibility to give back. I don't think that I would have been able to really take a step back and evaluate who I am and value those things about myself.”

More than 12 years later, Lozano is now the Program Chair for the Architectural, Engineering Design Technology (AEDT) Program and utilizes the same concepts of mentorship and family to guide STC students into successful careers.

“The people who we are teaching here, the students, we are preparing them to go out into the community and to not stay in a little bubble. And I think that's what's really important for me,” Lozano said. “In a sense, giving back to them is also telling them to open their eyes and explore the world.

“If I can continue to communicate this idea of giving back, students will graduate from our program knowing they have a responsibility to their community and that designers play a huge role in shaping the environment around them,” Lozano said. “They play a huge role in designing their future.”