Toby Tomlin was born on September 28th, 1983 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He is the middle child of Charles and Cheryl Tomlin. He has an older sister named Hailey, 35, and a younger brother named Will who is 27.
Tomlin graduated from Three Rivers High School in 2002. During his time there, he enjoyed taking rigorous math and history courses. He was also very active in after-school club activities which ranged from NHS, FCCLA, and Art Club to name a few. However, his true passion came from his Agriculture and Homemaking classes. In addition to his other clubs, Tomlin was also a member of the Longhorn 4-H, the American Meat Goat Association, FFA, and Junior American Boer Goat Association, among others.
After high school, Tomlin attended Coastal Bend College-Beeville where he received his Associate’s Degree in Applied Sciences. From there, he went on to Texas A&M-Kingsville and Majored in Agricultural Sciences with a Minor in Animal Science, Ag Business, and Plant and Soil Sciences. While at TAMUK, Tomlin worked at the AG Farm. He would often help grad students with their research, always without recognition. However, it was during his time at TAMUK where Tomlin experienced what he describes as one of the funniest moments of his life.
“…I was on the Livestock Judging Team. We went to the “Cow Palace” in San Francisco, California to judge livestock. There was a questions class where one question asked was, ‘which two of the four pigs were litter mates, or siblings?’ There were hundreds of livestock judges from colleges and universities from all over the West Coast and central part of the United States. I was the only person to answer correctly. The only one!
“I was brought up in front of the official judges, the other livestock judges, their coaches, and numerous other individuals at the awards banquet. All eyes were on me! They all wanted to hear how Toby Tomlin from Texas A&M-Kingsville was able to distinguish between four pigs and be able to tell which ones were litter mates just by looking at them. I was supposed to say something smart. I was supposed to say something about how I knew how to read ear notches; how I had been highly trained and educated from a great school in Animal Sciences and could tell that this pig and that pic were from the same litter because of what I had been taught.
“I got up in front of everyone and leaned into the microphone and said ‘I chose pig #2 and pig #4 because they looked like they could have been twins.’
“…All four pigs were the same breed: Chester White females! They all weighted within 10 lbs. of each other! But I, Toby Tomlin, educated at the fine school of agriculture at Texas A&M in Kingsville, said that #2 and #4 looked more alike than the others. At the time, it was embarrassing to our livestock judging coach and I guess a little to me as well, but looking back now, it was pretty funny. Fake it until you make it folks!”
After college, Tomlin worked for Cargill Meat Solution-Turkey Products in Temple, Texas for nearly 2 years. He moved on from there and went back to TAMUK for his teaching certificate. For Tomlin, teaching runs in the family. Both of his parents were teachers, with his father and his grandfather being Ag teachers. Tomlin's family has always been an influential part of his life, and teaching just seemed natural. Before coming to Kingsville,Tomling taught Agriculture in Agua Dulce and Falfurrias. Now, he teaches at H. M. King Early College High School as a Wildlife and Food Tech, where he's worked for the past 7 years.
Tomlin continues to learn new things every day. Whether it’s through books or helping out on his parents’ ranch, Tomlin does what he can to improve, and share his knowledge with his students.