By Kenneth Gutierrez/reporter
Fore! It’s time once more for the Seventh Annual Tarrant County College Employee Golf Tournament benefiting the Mario Hernandez Scholarship.
Open to the public, the tournament will be at Iron Horse Golf Course in North Richland Hills, Friday, May 18. Registration deadline is May 14.
This annual tournament is named for Mario Hernandez, former TCC employee, who died in a gas explosion at his home.
The $75 registration fee per golfer includes green fees, cart and gift bag. Hole sponsorships are available at $150 per hole. Check in is 7 a.m.; start time is 8 a.m., and an awards lunch is 1 p.m.
Hernandez was known for his loud, unmistakable whistling that flowed through the halls of both NE and NW campuses and encouraging people with his own motto: “Anything can be achieved if only you put your mind to it.”
As a son and first-generation Mexican-American, Hernandez saw first-hand the hardships of not having an education and the harsh realties of the work that accompanied it, his daughter Margo Hernandez Isbell said.
Isbell remembers stories her father told of days he spent under the unforgiving Texas sun, picking and working the fields to help make ends meet for his family.
Nevertheless, these rigorous conditions did not break his spirit nor his soul, but merely forged it and made him determined to seek a better life for himself and others, Isbell said. Hernandez became the first in his family not only to graduate from high school, but from college as well.
Not having a family member or working professional to help guide him through the process made Hernandez want to help youth making that same journey, Isbell said.
After completing his education, Hernandez would touch hundreds of lives as the financial aid director on NW Campus for more than 20 years and then as bursar on NE Campus for five years before he died.
Isbell said his true presence was felt after his death with the magnitude of out pouring from calls and personal testimonies of how her dad had touched and influenced so many and would often go the extra mile.
“ He was more like a counselor than a financial aid director or bursar for many youths looking for help,” she said.
Shortly after Hernandez died, TCC employees organized a golf tournament benefiting a scholarship in his name. The financial award is set up for first-generation college students currently enrolled in or entering TCC with critical financial need.
Other criteria for eligibility include enrollment in a minimum of nine semester hours for the period of the award and having a minimum TCC GPA of 2.75 or, if a first-time TCC student, the high school equivalent or a minimum GED score of 55.
Recipients can receive a second-semester spring scholarship if they achieve or exceed a 3.0 GPA and earn a minimum of nine credit hours.
Since 2000, the Mario Hernandez Scholarship fund has benefited more than 22 youths with money for college.
For more information on how to donate or apply for the Mario Hernandez Scholarship fund, go to www.tccd.edu/foundation.
To register for the tournament, contact Linda Buckingham at 817-515-6950 or linda.buckingham@tccd.edu.
