Zane Strickland
Zane Strickland has always been a problem solver and hands-on person.
"With a father who was a chemical engineer, I had a great understanding that engineering is one of the best ways to be both," he said. "It was blatantly obvious that engineering was the choice for me, although I would be lying if I didn’t say that I always wanted to be an engineer and follow in my dad’s footsteps."
Now in his final semester at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Strickland attributes much of his success to his time spent at Victoria College.
"My path to success was paved with the support and guidance of Victoria College," he said.
After a brief stint at a four-year institution, Strickland recognized the need for a more personalized and nurturing academic environment.
"VC is better suited for people like me, who have taken a break from school, are paying their way through school, or just nervous about college and want to start small."
Strickland's journey from VC to TAMUK highlights the pivotal role community colleges like VC play in nurturing students' academic and personal growth. For Strickland, the transition from a larger university to VC provided the support and resources he needed to excel in his studies.
“I would like to give a shoutout to Professor Melanie Yosko for continuing to push me to be the best that I can be even after I told her how little I needed calculus,” Strickland joked. “She’s the best example of how VC helped me achieve my dreams. I just want to emphasize how important the first few years of your degree program are, and how much of a leg up you have by starting at VC.
"They did a phenomenal job of teaching me how to study properly and gave me a real sense of the workload that college demands."
Starting in 2021, Victoria College began a partnership with TAMUK to provide VC students with an opportunity to obtain degrees in eleven different specialties of engineering by taking a combination of general education and lower-division engineering courses at VC before they move on to TAMUK to complete their upper-division work.
Strickland's involvement in an international engineering competition speaks volumes about the practical skills and real-world experience he gained through his academic journey. As the CAD and frame design lead for TAMUK’s off-road vehicle team, the Los Javelinos Cochinos, Strickland has honed his project management skills, learned to balance timelines and budgets, and experienced the challenges of real-world engineering.
"Learning how to balance the 'right' solution versus the 'perfect' solution is something that isn’t taught in class, but it sure is taught during the course of this project," Strickland explained. "No class you take really shows you how to balance timeline, budget and work needed to be done like this project does. It really is almost exactly like how real-world engineering occurs."
Now, on the brink of graduation, Strickland has already secured a promising career opportunity with ExxonMobil.
"I have already accepted an offer to work with ExxonMobil in Baytown as a machinery engineer," Strickland said. "And I wouldn’t have been able to do so if it hadn’t been for the fact that I started at such an amazing base point as Victoria College."
Zane Strickland has gained real-world engineering skills as the CAD and frame design lead for Texas A&M University-Kingsville's off-road vehicle team, the Los Javelinos Cochinos.