Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – Growing up in Roma, Jose Soto said he understood from an early age, the impact South Texas College had on the community and its ability to change peoples’ lives.
Watching family members walk across the stage at commencement to receive their degree, Soto said he looked forward to following in their footsteps, and this Sunday, his dream of becoming a college graduate came true as he was one of the more than 2,700 graduates who earned certificates or degrees during STC’s commencement ceremonies at the Bert Odgen Arena.
Soto earned an associate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.
“A lot of my family have attended STC, and they are my biggest inspiration,” Soto said. “My aunt, my grandma and my mom have all pushed me to continue learning. Even the teachers I had in high school all inspired me to push forward and foster my love of learning new things. That is really important to me because STC is giving us all the ability to make our community a better place.”
For Soto, STC is helping him make his mark in business.
Exposed to the business world from an early age through the family’s restaurant, Los Molcajetes in Roma, Soto said he learned not only by assisting with social media and digital marketing, but by creating balance sheets and calculating the business net profit or loss once the day was done.
“I learned how to market the restaurant while becoming exposed to what it took to run a business. It was a lot of work, but I thought it was so exciting at the end of the day to check our totals and to do my part to keep the restaurant afloat,” Soto said. “I brought this knowledge with me to STC, and it helped influence my future career choice.”
Already looking ahead, Soto said he will transition immediately to the college’s Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership with the goal to enter a career in business.
As a student at STC’s Starr County campus, Soto said he also sought to get involved by serving as the Student Government Association (SGA) president.
“STC has been great to me. Every single faculty member here has been caring to my goals and what I want to purse in the future. I know they want me to succeed,” Soto said. “To those students who want to do great things in this world, I think it’s important that they keep pushing and continue to further their knowledge. As difficult as it may be with the challenges that come our way, it’s super important to never stop learning. We have to continue working hard for our associate, bachelor’s, master’s and all the way up to our doctoral degrees because then success becomes a habit throughout our lives.”
