Colby Stokes works in the chemical industry, testing chemicals and plastics to make sure they are safe for applications and consumers. He loves his job — but if you’d asked him in high school, he would have had no idea the job even existed.
Stokes graduated from Dublin High School in 2006. He went to Ranger Junior College to play basketball, and spent a few years bouncing between schools and working odd jobs. He ended up moving to the gulf coast and earning his bachelors in biology from the University of Houston-Victoria.
He began applying for lab jobs in the area, and landed a position at Formosa Plastics working in research and development. He enjoyed the steady pace of the job, and found the work rewarding. “I love working in a lab facility,” he said. “That’s something that I enjoy doing.”
He worked there for a few years before transitioning to a job at Braskem North America in Port Lavaca, another plastics company. “I found comfort with working in a lab,” he said. “I currently work in a quality control lab.”
Stokes uses several scientific techniques to test the quality of chemicals and plastic final products. “My job is to make sure that it’s consumer grade,” he said. “Sterilite Tupperware is one of our big products that we test. It’s my job to make sure that it’s consumer safe for the individual to say, run it through the microwave.”
Another product Stokes works with is medical syringes. “Not all medical syringes are glass — there’s a lot of plastic compounds,” he said. “I make sure that there’s no leaching of compounds from the plastic that are going to be injected into an individual.”
Stokes is conscious of the impact that plastic producers and the chemical industry as a whole have on the environment. “From an environmental perspective, our company is very progressive,” he said. “I love working for them because they understand that people aren’t cool with pollution. We still have to produce the product, but what can we do to compensate for the pollution?”
While working at Braskem, Stokes completed a masters degree in biomedical science. “I got my master’s degree while I was working nine to five,” he said. “I did my thesis on genetic compounds using the Human Genome Project.”
After graduating, Stokes got involved with the University of Houston-Victoria as an alumni specialist. “The University of Houston Victoria is building a program for polymer science,” he said. “That was one of my suggestions. We’re recruiting qualified individuals to go into polymer science.”
He also spends time volunteering at his local YMCA. “Basketball is a big deal for me, so I work at the YMCA of Port Lavaca — the Golden Crescent YMCA — with their basketball team,” he said. “I want them to learn the discipline of basketball. It can transition over into just everyday life, like how to work as a team. That’s pretty much why I work with the YMCA: to help the youth of tomorrow, because they are the future.”
Stokes has a daughter, Bella Stokes, 11. “She changed my world,” he said. Bella competes in gymnastics, and also loves to make videos. “She’s big into editing video, so we do that as a little side job, making videos for real estate,” he said. “At the YMCA I’ve made connections with people who do real estate and I’m taking video footage and she’s doing the most part of the editing video for selling houses.”
Stokes’ whole family lives near Port Lavaca. “We all moved down to the gulf coast in 2007,” he said. “I’m just trying to support them as much as I can. It’s important for us to take care of each other,” he said. “My mom takes care of my great grandma. I take care of my mom and my grandma.”
“Family has always been a big important thing to me,” he said. “My family always supported me no matter what, and then I needed to support my family.”
Stokes’ advice to Dublin graduates is to keep an open mind to the possibilities of the world. “The opportunity is vast,” he said. “[Your life] doesn’t have to be just what’s available in Dublin or Stephenville. I would have never known about the industry that I’m currently in until I left. Just keep an open mind to the possibilities in life.”
Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@ dublincitizen. com.