Texas Border Business
By Joey Gomez
RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – Erika Salinas credits the faculty at South Texas College for inspiring her career as an educator at Rio Grande City High School.
Through their mentorship and guidance, Salinas said faculty showed her the importance of paying it forward and guiding her own students who may face similar challenges she did when entering college.
“All of my STC professors were very caring, and I still remember all of their names. Alex and Eli Sarabia, Juan Hernandez, Darrial Reynolds…they all care about their students,” Salinas said. “I admired them as professors because they challenged me to discover what type of teacher I wanted to be.”
Graduating from Grulla High School in 2016, Salinas said she entered STC that fall with the hopes of taking her passion for mathematics and combining it with a teaching career, but her educational journey was far from straightforward, she said.
At first undecided, Salinas said her first choice was to pursue an associate degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, but she eventually changed her track to Psychology. In the process of taking classes, Salinas said she was introduced to Hernandez and then the Sarabia brothers, who became her mentors at STC.
“I remember when I first took a computer science course with Juan Hernandez, and I remember that I never even owned a laptop when I was in high school, but he still taught me everything about Excel, PowerPoint and how to write an essay in MLA and MPA styles,” Salinas said. “He would help me on a one-to-one basis, and he was always guiding me and I could tell he cared a lot about my success.”
Through the Sarabia brothers, Salinas said she learned the importance of getting involved in the community through the Starr County Campus Psychology Club.
“It made me really enjoy my STC experience. Everyone from the faculty to the staff at the Starr County campus always made it worthwhile with all the activities and events taking place,” Salinas said. “I always felt included when I came to campus, and I feel it made a huge difference as I earned my degree.”
Salinas earned an associate degree in Psychology from STC in 2018 and graduated with Magna Cum Laude honors with a grade-point-average (GPA) of 3.64. She then attended the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology in 2020.
While receiving her associate degree at STC, Salinas said she earned a substitute teaching certificate through the college to supplement her income. She began tutoring mathematics at Rio Grande City High School, and her efforts soon caught the eye of administrators there, she said. She began her teaching career at the high school in 2021.
“As a teacher, I have the opportunity to ask my students daily about what they want to do after they graduate, and it’s no surprise that many say they want to go work in the oil fields, which is what my dad has done his whole life,” Salinas said. “I tell these kids to use my father as an example because he tells me he wishes he was educated so he didn’t have to work so hard and be away from his family so much. I tell students that even getting a welding certificate at STC or learning to fix air condition units in a short amount of time will help them find something so they can stay local.”
