(WACO, Texas) – Four students from Texas State Technical College’s Environmental Technology Compliance and Occupational Safety Compliance Technology programs have been selected to attend the American Society of Safety Professionals’ 2019 Future Safety Leaders Conference from Nov. 7 to 8 in Oak Brook, Illinois.

Joshua Campbell of Bruceville-Eddy, Chris Garibay of Mart, Robert Johnson of Waco and Craig Womack of China Spring are the first students from TSTC chosen by the organization to attend the conference.

“These are the ones that have stood out the last year I have been here at TSTC,” said Kimberly Williams, an instructor in TSTC’s Occupational Safety Compliance Technology program.

The students completed an application and wrote an essay to be considered. They are among 150 students nationwide going to the conference.

“I was excited to get four accepted,” said Williams. “It will put the program out there and the people who are graduating out there that are transitioning into the workforce.”

Garibay keeps safety in mind daily as a bus driver for the Connally Independent School District. He works in the mornings and on weekends for special events to earn money while attending TSTC.

Garibay said he looks forward to attending the event.

“It seems like it would be a good opportunity,” he said. “I hope I come back with a job. Just about everyone needs some kind of safety person.”

The students took different paths to their programs of study, and all hope to gain more knowledge from the conference.

“I have always been into safety,” said Campbell. “I was in the Boy Scouts. At work, I was the one that watched out for people.”

Campbell said he wants to work for a company as a health, safety and environmental specialist after graduation next summer.

For more information on Texas State Technical College, go to tstc.edu.