CANYON — Nearly a decade after graduating from Amarillo High School, Brinton Renegar crossed the stage Saturday, Dec. 13, at the First United Bank Center at West Texas A&M University with a master’s degree in counseling — the culmination of a long academic journey shaped by personal struggle, second chances and a childhood marked by family upheaval.
Renegar was among more than 1,000 students earning degrees during WTAMU’s commencement ceremonies, university officials said.
“It still doesn’t feel real,” Renegar said before the ceremony. “I’ve been in school eight or nine years. I think once I walk the stage, it’ll finally sink in.”
Renegar’s path through higher education was anything but linear. He began his college career at Oklahoma State University but returned home after his freshman year, citing the distance from family, the cost of out-of-state tuition and large lecture classes that made it difficult to connect with professors.
“I didn’t like being in 200-person classes where you never really knew your professor,” he said. “I wanted smaller classes and more personal connections.”
After transferring to WTAMU, Renegar struggled academically. Managing severe ADHD while adjusting to college-level expectations proved difficult, and his grades suffered. He was eventually suspended with a 1.8 GPA — a moment he described as a turning point.
“It took me a while to learn how to actually study,” he said. “In high school, I never really had to. College forced me to figure that out.”
Renegar later returned to WTAMU, completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology with a 3.7 GPA and was accepted into the university’s master’s program in counseling. He is finishing graduate school with a 3.8 GPA.
Campus support systems, including WTAMU’s Buff CARES program, which assists students facing academic and personal challenges, were critical to that turnaround, Renegar said.
“It didn’t feel attainable until I got into the master’s program,” he said. “That’s when it finally felt real — like something I could actually finish.”
His decision to pursue counseling was rooted not only in academic interest but in personal experience. Renegar said his parents divorced when he was 9 years old, an experience that shaped his interest in working with families and couples. He said growing up as an only child in a divided household left a lasting impression.
“I want to work with families who have kids going through rough home lives,” Renegar said. “If there’s a way to help parents work things out or navigate conflict better, that can make a huge difference for kids.”
Those early experiences also informed his interest in working with individuals recovering from addiction. Renegar said he hopes to challenge the stigma often attached to substance use disorders.
“People in recovery are intelligent, capable people who often just had bad cards dealt to them,” he said. “That stigma doesn’t help anyone.”
Both of Renegar’s parents and stepparents attended the commencement ceremony — a moment he described as meaningful after years of effort and personal growth.
“It’s really special to have them all here,” he said. “They get along, and that means a lot to me.”
WTAMU President Walter V. Wendler said commencement represents both student perseverance and institutional pride.
“You send all these young men and women into the world, and I’m exceptionally proud of our faculty and our students,” Wendler said. “We’re graduating over a thousand students and sending them into the workplace. My hope and prayer is that many of them stay here and contribute to the future of the Texas Panhandle.”
Renegar plans to remain in the Amarillo area and is exploring job opportunities in counseling and recovery services. He said his own experiences have shaped how he hopes to serve others.
“Whatever you’re going through doesn’t have to stop you from reaching your goals,” he said. “There are ways to cope, heal and keep moving forward.”
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: WTAMU graduate turns setbacks into calling to counsel others
Reporting by Michael Cuviello, Amarillo Globe-News / Amarillo Globe-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
