SRSU @ MC grad recalls journey to chemist careerMarch 30, 2023

Abigail ‘Abby’ Collins discovered that she enjoyed conducting laboratory analyses and research when she was a Midland College (MC) and Sul Ross State University (SRSU) student from 2009-2015.  Today, she is a technical chemist at ChampionX, an oil and gas service company, where she designs safe, effective and affordable water treatment solutions for Permian Basin oilfields.

“it’s a great job,” Collins said.  “Most of the work I do is project-based, so I have a good deal of independence in setting my own schedule.”

“Independence” is a theme in Collins’ life.  In fact, she said that the reason she enrolled at MC after graduating from high school a year earlier than her peers was that it allowed her a certain amount of independence.

“I attended Lee High School [now Legacy High School],” Collins explained.  “I was never involved in many extracurricular activities.  Even though I was a good student, I was bored.  So, during my junior year, I participated in an accelerated curriculum program and was able to graduate a year early.  That meant that I was only 17 and wasn’t ready to venture too far from home.  I started taking courses at MC and lived on campus in O’Shaughnessy Hall.  That gave me the freedom of living away from home, even though I still went to my mom’s house two or three times a week, especially when it was time to do my laundry.

“I was taking prerequisites for nursing, which meant that I took a lot of science lab courses, and I really liked those courses.  One day, I found out about the Sul Ross @ MC program, where I could take courses and earn a bachelor’s degree in Biology from SRSU on the MC campus.”

Midland College students in the Sul Ross @ MC Program learn remotely on the MC campus via interactive TV, virtual classrooms or through web-based courses. Some of the MC professors teach the hands-on lab courses.  Students may transfer over 80 credit hours of coursework from MC to SRSU and are eligible for financial aid and scholarships. Collins said that she attended MC on the Legacy Scholarship and then received scholarships from SRSU when she transferred, which made college very affordable.

“I’m not sure if I would have graduated from college had I not taken the MC and SRSU routes,” Collins said.  “I really enjoyed the small class sizes and camaraderie I had with my classmates and professors.  The professors were great—not always easy, but they held me accountable.  I was also encouraged to make connections that I’m not sure I could have made at a larger school.

“I was able to take all my classes on the MC campus.  A couple of times each semester, I would have to go to SRSU’s main campus in Alpine to participate in labs, but I didn’t mind that at all.  I discovered how beautiful Alpine and the Big Bend region are.

“One of the most valuable experiences I had during college was working in the MC Biology lab with Ethel Mathews [retired MC Biology lab instructor].  I learned basic lab procedures, which I still use in my job today.”

Collins explained that during the time she was taking SRSU courses, she didn’t always attend on a full-time basis.  

“I also worked at West Texas National Bank starting out in the phone bank and eventually ending up in the mortgage compliance department,” she said.  “Then, when I decided to get serious about college, I worked as a nanny.”

In 2015, Collins graduated form SRSU and was hired at ChampionX analyzing water from oil wells so that the team can design the best water treatment methods for a particular well.

In addition to a fulfilling career, ChampionX also offered Collins personal happiness.  She met her husband Jorge Zamarripa, a fellow technical chemist, while they were working together, and they started dating in 2016.  This past October, the couple were married at Museum of the Southwest in Midland.  

Jorge now works for Baker Hughes, a competitor in the oil service industry, but Collins said that the “competition” is always friendly.

“It’s fun being married to someone who has the same profession,” she said.  “It makes communication easy because we understand all the technical lingo, so we talk ‘shop’ a lot!”

The couple have two Chow Chow dogs, Gordon and Joe, and they enjoy taking the dogs hiking with them.  Two of their favorite hiking spots are Big Bend and Palo Duro Canyon.