it’s the spirit of aggielaaaaaaand

So I was going to write a blog about my chronic problem of going so long without doing laundry that I end up buying packaged underwear from Wal-Mart. I decided against it.

I also considered writing a blog about my first-ever bridesmaid experience. Because I was in a wedding party full of hotties, I naturally burned the front of my face with a hair straightener 3 days before the wedding.  I decided against that one too.

…Welp, here goes…

This summer I’m working as a student facilitator of the Community of Respect program at New Student Conferences.  I was so excited when they offered me the position because I absolutely love talking to people about embracing differences and all that jazz, and I felt like I really had the chance to make a difference at Texas A&M.  I’ve presented at two conferences now, to approximately 1400 freshmen (which is totally insane!).  They are positively glowing with high school; the signs are unmistakable.  The girls, for the most part, wear short-shorts because they’re still obnoxiously skinny, while the boys, for the most part, try their best to look nonchalant as they “stretch” and scan the room for honies.  You’re not fooling anybody, muscle boy.

Anyway, I realized very quickly that talking to hundreds of freshmen every week somehow makes it more REAL that I’m a senior in college, and I wonder when that’ll stop feeling so weird.  But when I’m standing in front of them, I’m not thinking about myself.  I’m thinking about all of the possibilities these people have at their fingertips, whether or not they realize it — all the midnight yells and late-night conversations and bungled dates and life-changing decisions and concerts and internships and amazing professors and…well, you get the idea.  Texas A&M is an incredible place that allows you to meet your lifelong friends and learn as much about yourself as you do about biology or business or horticulture or whatever the heezy you’re studying.  Are we experiencing a hailstorm of administrative turmoil and drama right now?  Yes.  I will not shy away from that for even a second.

But I really believe that regardless of what happens at the top, the students of Texas A&M, whether now or twenty years from now, will still enjoy those kinds of possibilities.  We will be okay.  Really.  And the reason is simple: we are each other’s college experience.

We, the students, make Texas A&M what it is.  And we always will

Directors and delegates of the MSCC Spencer Leadership Conference, November 2008. Just some students shaping a university, no big deal.