AMANDA MARTIN Second Tarleton degree helps Martin help others

Life Like a Song

Second Tarleton degree helps Martin help others

BY PHIL RIDDLE

John Lennon couldn’t have had Amanda Martin in mind when he featured in one of his songs the line “life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Martin, the laboratory administrative director for Cook Children’s Medical Center, runs the facility that physicians count on to make accurate diagnoses to successfully treat their young patients.

But that wasn’t the original plan.

A standout high school tennis player in Fort Stockton, she was recruited by then-coach Chet Martin (no relation) to play at Tarleton. She competed for two years before homework dominated her schedule, forcing her to leave tennis for recreation only.

She was active in campus organizations, though, participating in the Tarleton chapter of the biological honor society TriBeta and competing in intramural sports before earning a degree in animal biology in 2001.

Coming from far West Texas, she could be forgiven for not knowing much about the Stephenville campus.

“I had not heard a lot about Tarleton, but when I got there, I knew that’s where I needed to be. Coming from a small town, the culture felt right for me. The Purple Poo and all the traditions. Just that rich culture. You bleed purple forever.”

After earning her degree, she moved to Tarleton’s Fort Worth campus and started down a path—enrolling in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences program—that changed her life.

“The education was outstanding,” she said. “It really positioned me with the confidence and the background I needed.

“After graduating and getting into the field to look for a job, I found that if you were a Tarleton CLS graduate, you were pretty much a shoo-in. People want Tarleton graduates from that program.”

Martin has a soft spot for CLS grads, having married one. Husband Michael, who grew up in Hico, is the Transfusion Services Supervisor at Baylor Scott & White All Saints Medical Center–Fort Worth.

They have two children, Bailey and Brayden, who might be swayed by family history to attend Tarleton when the time comes. Besides mom and dad, Michael’s mother and three sisters all have Tarleton diplomas.

“I have always treasured the memories I have from Tarleton,” Martin said. “They situate you to let you grow and succeed. It’s something to be proud of.”

Looking back on her time as a college student, she wishes she had been more outgoing and participated more in the student experiences at Tarleton.

“Go to Duck Camp,” she tells any prospective Tarleton students. “I missed out on that, being the introvert I am. I tell people I know I missed out, but they definitely need to go. They need to know all that tradition from the get-go.”

She’s not so introverted now.

“I think my experiences at Tarleton had a lot to do with that, getting outside my shell.”

Maybe there’s a song there, too.

“The education was outstanding. It really positioned me with the confidence and the background

I needed.” Amanda Martin