Deb K.
Deb Kleinen, ‘09
Class: Senior, 2009 (Whoop!)
Hometown: Sugar Land, TX
Major: Communication
Favorite Aggie Tradition: Silver Taps… definitely. As one of the most selfless acts that and Aggie can do, incredibly moved I stand in the dark and honor stranger after stranger. In my tenure here, I stood in silence for two friends, yet I go regardless of relationships with my fellow Aggie. At the same time, it breaks my heart to leave the library, not in a huge throng, but rather as an individual. The 30 minutes I get to spend serving and honoring a fellow Ag, easily outweighs anything that studying taught me.
Useful College Advice: Take advantage of every moment. Never, ever, ever will you be living in a place with 48,000 of your peers. College is where friendships are chosen and nurtured. The craziest and most treasured stories I have (that will be told to the grand children) come from my college friends.
Favorite Organization Involved With: Fish Camp. It really is hard to express my love of the organization that ushered me into a place that will always have my heart. Now, as a chair, I have learned so much about the leadership, peer mentorship, and true hard work that is put into an organization where counselors pay to host 80% of the freshman class for 4 days in Palestine, TX.
Interesting /Little Known Fact: I speak, somewhat, Arabic… but I don’t claim fluency.
Favorite Everyday Phrase: Tragically, it is the word “duh”. I have two semesters left in which I can freely, without judgment, use the word, and I plan on killing it. Once in the real world, I think it will be retired.
Favorite Spot on Campus: Hmmm…. I love the 12th Man Cafeteria. It is the big Fish Camp hang out area, but I am prone to people watch and the Commons is pretty interesting in that facet. No where can one witness such a change, in such an immediate way, in Freshmen.
Favorite Dream Vacation: I would love to go on the Holy Land tour… I would then second it with another trip to the Middle East.
Favorite College Job/Internship: Being a Fish Camp Co-Chair, because it is a 24/7 job!
Greatest Pet Peeve: “Phone Voice”… when people, girls especially, change their voice to about 5 to 9 octaves higher than the average girl… Children on leashes also irk me because kids need to run around, and the kid looks so strange… and full heartedly people who get their Aggie Ring early, because I am way jealous.
Ideal Post-College Career: Several options would leave me overjoyed…
- Journalist for any press syndicate, living in the Middle East
- Working for an Embassy in the Middle East somewhere
- Somewhere that I am making a difference, challenged, and happy.
Which classes do you think have helped you for your future? ECON 202… Well I came in an Economics major, and I learned quickly… I should never have been an Economics major.
Best Life Advice told to you: “You have executive abilities”-Fortune Cookie… because it doesn’t matter the cards you are dealt, it matters what you make on your own. Favorite Out-of-Texas Experience: Dubai, UAE… It instilled a passion to move to the Middle East, and might be the most beautiful place I have ever seen.
One thing you would like people to know about A&M: The love I have for this university is because of the change that it brought me. Every student comes out of here different, more complete, because of the leadership, passion, and integrity that instills every value of this institution. Blessed cannot capture the gratitude that I have for coming here.
