Midland College alum enjoys working at Chap CenterMay 06, 2020

After graduating from Stanton High School in 2012, Jacob Nichols decided to stay close to home to start his college experience.

“Midland College was the perfect choice,” said Nichols.  “It was close to home, provided a great education and made sense financially.” 

Nichols spent two years studying at Midland College, and then chose another West Texas school to finish his degree in Kinesiology.

“I loved my time at Midland College,” explained Nichols.  “The classes are small, so students get to know professors.  When I was looking at schools for transfer possibilities, I decided that I wanted a smaller school, and I chose Angelo State University.”

While he was attending Midland College, he was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and kept track of stats at home basketball games.  When he transferred, his love of basketball helped him to get a job as a student manager for the Angelo State Rams basketball team.

“I really like all sports,” stated Nichols.  “In high school I played basketball, football and ran track.  I also played tennis for a year in high school.”

Nichols graduated from Angelo State in 2016, and he found the perfect job to complement his affinity for sports.  In August 2016, Nichols became the coordinator of operations for the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center at Midland College. 

“It’s a great job!” exclaimed Nichols.  “I love the atmosphere.  We have a team of four at Chap Center—a director, secretary, custodian and me.  We work very closely with the Midland College Athletics department, so I still have a connection to sports.”

Nichols’ job responsibilities include being in charge of Chap Center concession stands and coordinating setups for not only volleyball and basketball games, but also events, such as the Davidson Distinguished Lecture Series, the Phyllis and Bob Cowan Performing Arts Series and the MISD Foundation annual fundraiser.

“When we have a special event, the workload can be a little intense,” explained Nichols.  “However, it’s fun.  All four of us pitch in to get the work done.  Sometimes it means a 17-hour day—we come in at 8:00 a.m. and work until 2:00 a.m. the next day.  Then we come back at 10:00 a.m. to tear down and clean.” 

After working at Midland College for almost four years, Nichols is now embarking on another new adventure.  Right before the Covid-19 restrictions went into place, Nichols got married.  He and his wife Chauncey are living in Nichols’ house near Grande Stadium that he purchased about two years ago.  The couple and Chauncey’s 9-year-old poodle named Zoe are enjoying newlywed life.  Chauncey is a nurse at Midland Memorial Hospital.

“We joke about getting married the day the world shut down,” laughed Nichols.  “Actually, we’ve been fortunate in that we’ve gotten to spend a lot of time together during the first six weeks of our marriage.  We’ve done some landscaping work to the yard; our next project is to repaint the bedrooms.”

Normally, late April and May is a busy time at the Al G. Langford Chaparral Center.  Nichols and Chap Center Director Mike Stevens are responsible for setups for not only Midland College graduation ceremonies, but also area high schools.  Nichols explained that with no graduations this year, the staff is taking care of some routine maintenance. 

During the past four years, Nichols has been able to not only pursue his passion for sports by viewing Chaps and Lady Chaps basketball and volleyball games, but also see some wonderful special events.

“My favorite event was the NCAA basketball game between Texas Tech and Houston Baptist this past November.  We had a huge crowd—5,200 people.  It was standing room only.  When I found out that we were expecting that many people, I got a little nervous wondering how I was going to handle concessions.  The MC softball team helped me in the concession stands that night.  They did an awesome job and raised a lot of money for the team.  We all had fun.  I’m blessed to have this job and this way of making a living.”