Growth rarely follows a straight line, and for Toni Oliver Trimaur, some of her greatest growth has happened where it all started.
Long before Toni became an employee in Trinity Valley Community College’s Adult & Continuing Education department, she was a student looking for a place to begin.
“I have been on my own since I was sixteen,” Toni explained. “I had to drop out of high school.” Three years later, she came to TVCC and earned her General Educational Development Certificate (GED).
From there, ACE opened the door to new possibilities, as Toni completed job skills training, phlebotomy, and med aide training before eventually earning her Patient Care Technician certification at the TVCC-Kaufman campus. For Toni, those opportunities became the foundation for a career in healthcare. Today, she sees the same potential in the students who come through ACE.
“For some people ACE is a foundation for them to start somewhere,” Toni said. “Maybe they don’t know where to start, or have life struggles, or just need a certificate to enhance their skills. We’re here to lift people up.”
Following completion of the PCT program, she enrolled in and began classes for the LVN (Licensed Vocational Nurse) program. However, life had other plans.
“My middle son got really, really sick when he was a baby,” Toni said. “We had to deal with that for quite some time… for about a year. So, I withdrew from the LVN program to become a stay-at-home mom.”
An unexpected invitation from a friend eventually led her to massage therapy school, a decision that turned into another long-term career. Toni became a medical massage therapist and later an instructor, teaching and practicing massage therapy for 17 years now. Despite the changes in direction, one thing remained consistent: a desire to help others.
“I feel like it does all tie in to helping people,” she said. “I want people to feel good. I like to help people. It’s what makes me feel accomplished.”
Toni’s own education continued to grow along with her career. She went on to earn an Associate of Applied Science in Massage Therapy and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Parker University, as well as an Associate of Arts from TVCC. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in organizational leadership.
Years later, family circumstances brought Toni back to Mabank and eventually back to TVCC.
“My mom got sick, so I moved back to Mabank, and shortly after that I applied to TVCC to work in the Student Records office,” Toni said.
Toni eventually interviewed for and got the job in Student Records. She looks back on this time as a pivotal moment in her career and life.
“When I came here I was a different person, I had just lost my mother about two months prior, and I was in a slump,” she explained. “Caroline [Whitaker] and Cortney [Curran] showed me so much that I didn’t know that helped me grow as a person. They built me back up. I don’t think I would be the same person I am today if I hadn’t landed in that department.”
Amid working for Student Records, she also taught Health & Wellness courses through ACE, giving her the opportunity to help students from the other side of the classroom. Toni met TVCC Director of ACE Chris Hicks shortly after beginning her career at TVCC and was immediately drawn to her energy and passion. When a position later became available in Continuing Education, the department where Toni’s own story at TVCC had begun, the decision felt natural.
“I thought, ‘It’s time to go home,’” Toni recalled. “So now I’m back in ACE where it all began.”
Now, Toni finds herself on the other side of the experience that helped shape her own life. Instead of being the student looking for an opportunity, she is part of the department helping create those opportunities for others. Her own experience gives her a unique perspective on the students ACE serves.
“If it weren’t for ACE, I don’t think I would be where I am today, to be honest,” she said. “It all started in ACE for me.”
Returning to ACE has also given Toni another opportunity to grow. She credits Chris with encouraging that growth while reinforcing the passion for helping others that has followed Toni throughout her career.
“Coming to ACE with Chris has just been phenomenal,” Toni said. “She continues to build me up and reinforces my growth here and my passion for helping others. I feel like I’m becoming a tree.”
Toni has gone down many roads to get to the path that she’s on now. From GED recipient to massage therapist, and now TVCC employee, she understands that the place that gave her an opportunity to start has ultimately become the place where she can help others do the same.
For some students, ACE may be a stepping stone toward an academic program. For others, it may provide the certification or skills needed to begin a new career. Toni understands both possibilities because she once stood on the other side of that opportunity.
Now, back where it all began, she has the chance to help others build their own foundation. And perhaps that's what it means to grow – putting down roots, then helping someone else do the same.