Attending Texas Tech University was a near foregone conclusion for Kamerin Schacht. Growing up in Lubbock in the 1990s, Schacht gives all the credit to her grandmother.
“She would literally drive me around the campus as a child and be like, ‘You’re going to this school,’” Schacht said, laughing. “It’s crazy to reflect on that now. I don’t know how she had the wisdom to push me like that.”
Schacht, a first-generation Red Raider, was raised by her grandparents, neither of whom graduated from high school. Her grandfather worked as a mechanic and her grandmother as a self-employed hairdresser.
Schacht attributes her grandmother for instilling a strong work ethic, sense of human decency and passion for helping others.
After earning her bachelor’s degree in English and minor in secondary education, Schacht spent the next three years teaching high school English. She liked helping students explore new concepts and grow as writers, but she wasn’t in love with the work. She wanted to help students in a more direct and personal way.
That was when some core memories of her bygone school days materialized in her mind.
In one memory, Schacht was transported back to second grade. She was carrying anxiety and stress that could force a second grader to shut down or turn inward. Her grandmother set up daily morning meetings for Schacht to speak with the school’s counselor.
At each meeting, the counselor had games or puzzles available and gave Schacht an opportunity to just talk through her thoughts and emotions. It may have been a small act, but the counselor offered Schacht the opportunity to process everything in a safe, sympathetic and caring environment.
“Throughout school, I always had really supportive counselors – these people who really made a difference in my life,” she said. “I just wanted to emulate them.”
This passion motivated Schacht to become an academic advisor within the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business and, eventually, the director for Advising Excellence at Texas Tech where she supports the advisors that support the students.
Over 15 years after graduating with her bachelor’s degrees, Schacht returned to the classroom and the Rawls College to work toward a Master of Science in Human Resource Management (MS-HRM). And while she is preparing to walk the stage as part of the MS-HRM’s first graduating cohort at this August’s commencement, she began implementing lessons from her graduate classes into her work as director almost immediately.
This is a case of Texas Tech strengthening Texas Tech.