Master Plan Updates

Meeting the Needs Of Our Community

Welcome to the heart of transformation where education meets community. Victoria College embarks on a journey of growth and innovation, shaping the future on projects that embody our mission to enrich lives and empower individuals.

The Path You’re Paving

At Victoria College, we believe in the power of education to transform lives and uplift communities. With a century of service, we stand at the threshold of a new era, marked by groundbreaking projects designed to expand horizons, foster innovation, and create opportunities.

Crafting Spaces for Success

William Wood Building
Empowering Your Journey

The Student Success Center will be all-inclusive, combining functions such as a learning commons area, library resources, learning services, student services, and student life, along with a bookstore, food services, and other student supports into a single, centralized facility.
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Museum of the Coastal Bend
Empowering Your Journey

The Student Success Center will be all-inclusive, combining functions such as a learning commons area, library resources, learning services, student services, and student life, along with a bookstore, food services, and other student supports into a single, centralized facility.
Discover More
Student Success Center
Empowering Your Journey

The Student Success Center will be all-inclusive, combining functions such as a learning commons area, library resources, learning services, student services, and student life, along with a bookstore, food services, and other student supports into a single, centralized facility.
Discover More
Virginia Callan Welder Performance
Empowering Your Journey

The Student Success Center will be all-inclusive, combining functions such as a learning commons area, library resources, learning services, student services, and student life, along with a bookstore, food services, and other student supports into a single, centralized facility.
Discover More
Allied Health Building
Empowering Your Journey

The Student Success Center will be all-inclusive, combining functions such as a learning commons area, library resources, learning services, student services, and student life, along with a bookstore, food services, and other student supports into a single, centralized facility.
Discover More

Voices of Impact

Amy Molina

Tyler Paul

Rebecca Leist

Feather in her cap: Single mom of three nearing finish line of long journey at VC

Not long after embarking on a career at Chick-fil-A, Amy Molina enrolled as a nursing student at Victoria College. Both entities remain a significant part of her life.

All three of her children, Destiny (23), Faith (20) and Isaiah (18), now work at Chick-fil-A in Victoria, while Molina will graduate from VC with an Associate of Applied Science in business management on May 11.

“I always wanted to prove to my children that no matter how old you are, you can always go back to college,” she said. “I started college in my late 20s. It’s an amazing feeling to know I am finally going to accomplish earning a degree.”

As a single mother working 60-plus hours per week, Molina has taken one class at a time while keeping an eye on her goal. Chick-fil-A also helped pay for her college tuition.

Along the way, she has earned Office Support Staff (May 2021), Business Relationship (Dec. 2021) and Accounting Technician (Dec. 2022) Occupational Skills Awards, along with an Office Management Certificate (Dec. 2021).

“When I first enrolled at VC, I was doing the prerequisites for nursing,” she said. “I thought that was the field I wanted to go into. Upon working at Chick-fil-A, I grasped the business perspective better. I gravitated that way naturally.”

Molina, who is from Edna, is now the Vice President of Operations for Chick-fil-A Victoria and a certified trainer for the Chick-fil-A Corporation for local operator David Murphy. As part of her role, she travels across the country to help open new locations.

“I did an opening in New York City at Grand Central Station for two weeks,” she said. “That was probably one of my favorites because it was the winter and snowing. I’ve also been to California a few times and Las Vegas.

“It’s very nice to go out and meet individuals like me who are dedicated to Chick-fil-A, who are also single parents or working their way through school. That’s the end goal for them, too.”

Murphy became the operator of a third Victoria Chick-fil-A location recently, which is a rarity in that corporation. He credits employees like Molina for helping facilitate the accomplishment. They have worked together since she started.

“Amy is one of the hardest working and most dedicated individuals I have ever known, both for her family and for her career,” he said. “I have witnessed her grow and mature not only as a leader, but also as a mother during her more than 15-year tenure with Chick-fil-A Victoria. My life and business are better because she’s a part of them both!”

After graduation day, Molina plans to enroll in summer courses at VC to prepare to start a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Houston-Victoria in the fall.

“My heart is for serving people,” she said. “I absolutely love my job with Chick-fil-A. What keeps me invested is the fact that we’re more in the ‘people’ business than the ‘chicken’ business.”

The knowledge that Molina is gaining at VC continues to serve her well as she builds onto her successful career and prepares for other opportunities down the road. She will come full-circle with VC when she walks the stage with her three children in attendance.

“My son graduates two weeks later from high school,” she said. “It’s a bittersweet moment. My children said, ‘You’ve done this for so long. We’ve seen you sit at the kitchen table at night. You deserve to walk so we can see you do it.’”

Molina said it’s been worth the wait.

“I work with a lot of people in high school and single mothers like myself, so I feel like I’m an advocate for the children and other mothers to tell them, ‘Hey, this is possible. VC has so many courses online that you can work 60 hours a week and get a degree at the same time.’”

Homeschooled student sets record, earns instrumentation degree at 17

At just 15 years old, Inez resident Tyler Paul enrolled in his first class at Victoria College.

“I saw it as a challenge,” Paul said. “Having an associate degree opens up a wide variety of opportunities, so it seemed like a wise direction to pursue. I just decided to begin early, giving me a head start.”

Despite the challenges of balancing high school requirements and college coursework, Paul’s resourcefulness and resilience propelled him forward. As a homeschooled student, he embraced the freedom to craft his schedule to meet the demands of both high school and college.

“I had some breaks built into my college schedule, so I spent time in my truck, in the library and in the student lounge completing my other high school assignments.”

On May 11, Paul will become the youngest VC student ever to graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree in instrumentation at just 17 years old, equipping him with the skills to install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair process control equipment.

Paul attributes his ability to juggle both high school and college to the accessibility of Victoria College.

“Having a local community college made it possible for me to attend on-campus classes and still fulfill all my other obligations,” said Paul. “The program is an in-person degree, so I would not have been able to complete it and still live at home and finish high school, if it were not offered locally. VC also offers a dual-enrollment discount, and that helped to offset some of the costs.”

For Paul, the decision to pursue a career in instrumentation was a given.

“Having a father with a degree in instrumentation from VC, following in his footsteps felt like the right path for me,” shared Paul, who also earned his Instrumentation/Measurement Technician Certificate from VC last December.

As he prepares to navigate the job market, Paul, who just turned 17, is aware that most companies that hire instrumentation technicians require their employees to be 18 years old.

“In the meantime, I plan on pursuing additional certifications and training courses to prepare me for my future job,” he said.

VC instructors and staff are also helping him identify job opportunities to gain work experience and leverage his skills until he can apply for instrumentation positions when he turns 18.

“Tyler has been a remarkable student to teach,” said Joshua Scotten, Instructor and Curriculum Coordinator of VC’s Instrumentation Program. “His eagerness to learn and intrinsic motivation are matched only by his integrity and strong character.”

Scotten said Paul never allowed his age to hinder his willingness to assist others and share his knowledge, despite being the youngest student in the classroom.

“Tyler is sure to be a valuable addition to any team he is a part of, and he has inspired me to reconsider the limits of what is possible and to never settle.”

VC student honors mother’s legacy, aims to make a difference as physical therapist assistant

In the span of eight days in December 2020, Rebecca Leist turned 24 years old, moved into her first apartment while working as a clinician and lost her mother, Martina Buenger, to Mild Acute Ligament Syndrome.

“Throughout my grieving process for my mom, I saw my patients grieving in different ways through their surgeries or diagnoses,” she said. “My patients inspired me to think, ‘If they can do it, I can do it.’”

Watching a video of her mother after surgery led Leist to change her career trajectory and enroll in Victoria College’s Physical Therapist Assistant Program in 2022.

“In the video, there were two physical therapy assistants helping her,” she said. “That inspired me, too. That’s what I want to be to my patients.”

While attending Yoakum High School, Leist got a jump on her higher education by completing dual-credit college courses. She graduated from VC in 2017 with her first degree, an Associate of Science.

Starting college early also helped Leist get a jump on earning a bachelor’s degree, which she completed in health studies at the University of Houston-Victoria three years later.

“Attending Victoria College was beneficial for me,” she said. “Coming from a home with a single mom, taking dual-credit classes and being able to keep up my grades helped my mom get most of her money back. That was the best part of it.”

Leist recently earned a $1,000 scholarship as one of four winners of VC’s “What’s Your Story?” essay contest and was invited to share her story with employees at VC’s Fall Convocation.

“I sent my story in because it’s how I got to where I am today,” she said. “I am really glad to share my story because 24 is pretty young to lose a parent. I don’t have any financial support. I am doing it all on my own with scholarships. Hopefully, my story can help someone going through a similar situation.”

With an expected graduation date of May 2024, Leist hopes to become a physical therapist assistant in either pediatrics or at a nursing facility.

“I am pretty open,” she said. “I have done outpatient. I just finished my rotation with a skilled nursing facility. My next step is trying to work with pediatrics. I am happy with anything I get. I love working with people.”

With the extra motivation of helping others while honoring her mother, Leist is thriving in school and plans to continue doing so into her career.

“Me and my mom, who was originally from Berlin, Germany, were really close,” she said. “We even worked the same job at H-E-B for close to 10 years. We were in different departments, but we enjoyed working together.

“Instead of being down and depressed about the situation, my mother is my motivation to keep going – to go on and live with the legacy.”

Leist concluded her essay by saying: “Victoria College’s PTA Program is helping me achieve that goal for my future. Learning and digesting everything I’ve seen in clinic when I was a tech is so extraordinary to me. My professors do it with such conscientiousness.

“Because of that, I’m receiving the greatest education to help me become the best PTA I can be. I decided that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, just how my mom and patients did in mine, just how the PTAs did in hers. She walked; now, I will walk for her.”

Amy Molina
Tyler Paul
Rebecca Leist

Feather in her cap: Single mom of three nearing finish line of long journey at VC

Not long after embarking on a career at Chick-fil-A, Amy Molina enrolled as a nursing student at Victoria College. Both entities remain a significant part of her life.

All three of her children, Destiny (23), Faith (20) and Isaiah (18), now work at Chick-fil-A in Victoria, while Molina will graduate from VC with an Associate of Applied Science in business management on May 11.

“I always wanted to prove to my children that no matter how old you are, you can always go back to college,” she said. “I started college in my late 20s. It’s an amazing feeling to know I am finally going to accomplish earning a degree.”

As a single mother working 60-plus hours per week, Molina has taken one class at a time while keeping an eye on her goal. Chick-fil-A also helped pay for her college tuition.

Along the way, she has earned Office Support Staff (May 2021), Business Relationship (Dec. 2021) and Accounting Technician (Dec. 2022) Occupational Skills Awards, along with an Office Management Certificate (Dec. 2021).

“When I first enrolled at VC, I was doing the prerequisites for nursing,” she said. “I thought that was the field I wanted to go into. Upon working at Chick-fil-A, I grasped the business perspective better. I gravitated that way naturally.”

Molina, who is from Edna, is now the Vice President of Operations for Chick-fil-A Victoria and a certified trainer for the Chick-fil-A Corporation for local operator David Murphy. As part of her role, she travels across the country to help open new locations.

“I did an opening in New York City at Grand Central Station for two weeks,” she said. “That was probably one of my favorites because it was the winter and snowing. I’ve also been to California a few times and Las Vegas.

“It’s very nice to go out and meet individuals like me who are dedicated to Chick-fil-A, who are also single parents or working their way through school. That’s the end goal for them, too.”

Murphy became the operator of a third Victoria Chick-fil-A location recently, which is a rarity in that corporation. He credits employees like Molina for helping facilitate the accomplishment. They have worked together since she started.

“Amy is one of the hardest working and most dedicated individuals I have ever known, both for her family and for her career,” he said. “I have witnessed her grow and mature not only as a leader, but also as a mother during her more than 15-year tenure with Chick-fil-A Victoria. My life and business are better because she’s a part of them both!”

After graduation day, Molina plans to enroll in summer courses at VC to prepare to start a bachelor’s degree in psychology at the University of Houston-Victoria in the fall.

“My heart is for serving people,” she said. “I absolutely love my job with Chick-fil-A. What keeps me invested is the fact that we’re more in the ‘people’ business than the ‘chicken’ business.”

The knowledge that Molina is gaining at VC continues to serve her well as she builds onto her successful career and prepares for other opportunities down the road. She will come full-circle with VC when she walks the stage with her three children in attendance.

“My son graduates two weeks later from high school,” she said. “It’s a bittersweet moment. My children said, ‘You’ve done this for so long. We’ve seen you sit at the kitchen table at night. You deserve to walk so we can see you do it.’”

Molina said it’s been worth the wait.

“I work with a lot of people in high school and single mothers like myself, so I feel like I’m an advocate for the children and other mothers to tell them, ‘Hey, this is possible. VC has so many courses online that you can work 60 hours a week and get a degree at the same time.’”

Homeschooled student sets record, earns instrumentation degree at 17

At just 15 years old, Inez resident Tyler Paul enrolled in his first class at Victoria College.

“I saw it as a challenge,” Paul said. “Having an associate degree opens up a wide variety of opportunities, so it seemed like a wise direction to pursue. I just decided to begin early, giving me a head start.”

Despite the challenges of balancing high school requirements and college coursework, Paul’s resourcefulness and resilience propelled him forward. As a homeschooled student, he embraced the freedom to craft his schedule to meet the demands of both high school and college.

“I had some breaks built into my college schedule, so I spent time in my truck, in the library and in the student lounge completing my other high school assignments.”

On May 11, Paul will become the youngest VC student ever to graduate with an Associate of Applied Science degree in instrumentation at just 17 years old, equipping him with the skills to install, maintain, troubleshoot and repair process control equipment.

Paul attributes his ability to juggle both high school and college to the accessibility of Victoria College.

“Having a local community college made it possible for me to attend on-campus classes and still fulfill all my other obligations,” said Paul. “The program is an in-person degree, so I would not have been able to complete it and still live at home and finish high school, if it were not offered locally. VC also offers a dual-enrollment discount, and that helped to offset some of the costs.”

For Paul, the decision to pursue a career in instrumentation was a given.

“Having a father with a degree in instrumentation from VC, following in his footsteps felt like the right path for me,” shared Paul, who also earned his Instrumentation/Measurement Technician Certificate from VC last December.

As he prepares to navigate the job market, Paul, who just turned 17, is aware that most companies that hire instrumentation technicians require their employees to be 18 years old.

“In the meantime, I plan on pursuing additional certifications and training courses to prepare me for my future job,” he said.

VC instructors and staff are also helping him identify job opportunities to gain work experience and leverage his skills until he can apply for instrumentation positions when he turns 18.

“Tyler has been a remarkable student to teach,” said Joshua Scotten, Instructor and Curriculum Coordinator of VC’s Instrumentation Program. “His eagerness to learn and intrinsic motivation are matched only by his integrity and strong character.”

Scotten said Paul never allowed his age to hinder his willingness to assist others and share his knowledge, despite being the youngest student in the classroom.

“Tyler is sure to be a valuable addition to any team he is a part of, and he has inspired me to reconsider the limits of what is possible and to never settle.”

VC student honors mother’s legacy, aims to make a difference as physical therapist assistant

In the span of eight days in December 2020, Rebecca Leist turned 24 years old, moved into her first apartment while working as a clinician and lost her mother, Martina Buenger, to Mild Acute Ligament Syndrome.

“Throughout my grieving process for my mom, I saw my patients grieving in different ways through their surgeries or diagnoses,” she said. “My patients inspired me to think, ‘If they can do it, I can do it.’”

Watching a video of her mother after surgery led Leist to change her career trajectory and enroll in Victoria College’s Physical Therapist Assistant Program in 2022.

“In the video, there were two physical therapy assistants helping her,” she said. “That inspired me, too. That’s what I want to be to my patients.”

While attending Yoakum High School, Leist got a jump on her higher education by completing dual-credit college courses. She graduated from VC in 2017 with her first degree, an Associate of Science.

Starting college early also helped Leist get a jump on earning a bachelor’s degree, which she completed in health studies at the University of Houston-Victoria three years later.

“Attending Victoria College was beneficial for me,” she said. “Coming from a home with a single mom, taking dual-credit classes and being able to keep up my grades helped my mom get most of her money back. That was the best part of it.”

Leist recently earned a $1,000 scholarship as one of four winners of VC’s “What’s Your Story?” essay contest and was invited to share her story with employees at VC’s Fall Convocation.

“I sent my story in because it’s how I got to where I am today,” she said. “I am really glad to share my story because 24 is pretty young to lose a parent. I don’t have any financial support. I am doing it all on my own with scholarships. Hopefully, my story can help someone going through a similar situation.”

With an expected graduation date of May 2024, Leist hopes to become a physical therapist assistant in either pediatrics or at a nursing facility.

“I am pretty open,” she said. “I have done outpatient. I just finished my rotation with a skilled nursing facility. My next step is trying to work with pediatrics. I am happy with anything I get. I love working with people.”

With the extra motivation of helping others while honoring her mother, Leist is thriving in school and plans to continue doing so into her career.

“Me and my mom, who was originally from Berlin, Germany, were really close,” she said. “We even worked the same job at H-E-B for close to 10 years. We were in different departments, but we enjoyed working together.

“Instead of being down and depressed about the situation, my mother is my motivation to keep going – to go on and live with the legacy.”

Leist concluded her essay by saying: “Victoria College’s PTA Program is helping me achieve that goal for my future. Learning and digesting everything I’ve seen in clinic when I was a tech is so extraordinary to me. My professors do it with such conscientiousness.

“Because of that, I’m receiving the greatest education to help me become the best PTA I can be. I decided that I wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, just how my mom and patients did in mine, just how the PTAs did in hers. She walked; now, I will walk for her.”