For mom and daughter, Tyler Junior College orientation is a family affair

Published 1:20 pm Monday, June 25, 2018

Joy Rollins recently experienced a bit of nostalgia when she brought her daughter, Torria, to Tyler Junior College’s New Student Orientation. 

“This is the first time I’ve been back on this campus since I left here in 1986, and it’s still just beautiful,” said Ms. Rollins, a Port Arthur native now living in Atlanta, Georgia.

She came to TJC in 1984, took her core classes, then transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to study sociology.

Torria plans to major in computer science and pursue a career in information technology. She has also applied to work as a manager on the TJC women’s soccer team. 

“Today is actually the first time I’ve been here; and so far, I really like it,” Torria said. “For orientation, I’m staying in Crossroads Hall, next door to Bateman Hall. Bateman is where mom lived and where I’m signed up to live in the fall.”

Ms. Rollins chimed in, “Yes! It was so exciting when she got her dorm assignment for Bateman and I was like, ‘That was my dorm, too!’ She’s assigned to the second floor and I was on the third floor.”

She said there were a few contributing factors in the decision to send Torria to TJC.

“Her godmother — Pholesha Johnson, who I met when I was at TJC — lives in the Dallas area, my sister is in Lewisville and my parents live in Beaumont,” she said. “TJC hadn’t been on the list at all, but some things transpired and then there was never any other choice. TJC was it! It’s a good fit, I think. She’ll have a good support system here.”

That support system includes Ms. Rollins’ core group of friends she met when she came to TJC 34 years ago.

“I’m still friends with about five of the girls I met when I lived in Bateman,” she said. “They came in from Houston, Dallas, Tyler, Mineola and Henderson, and they are all waiting for us right now at my hotel. We’re excited to get together and relive our TJC years.”

The group gathered on campus later that afternoon, for an impromptu campus tour and photo session.

“TJC holds so many memories for us,” Ms. Rollins said. “We had so much fun, I never imagined that three decades later I would be bringing my daughter to my school to make her own memories. It’s amazing how many things have changed, but we are so thankful that some have stayed the same. TJC was indeed the right decision for me — and now, for her!”