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A&M OR BUST

 

          After moving around ten times in six years before college,

I was ready to settle down. I wanted a home, I wanted to belong,

I wanted an extended family. High school was far from enjoyable

and every day I just kept my head down waiting for my chance to

escape to higher education. When I was 6 or 7, I remember

meeting one of my friend’s fathers and him always sharing his

appreciation and love for his school. He was an Aggie. Even though

I was too young to be making collegiate decisions, it left an imprint

on my mind. After many many years, he shared his experiences and

joy of being a part of the A&M family. I looked into A&M even

when I was thousands of miles away. Indiana University was the

closest option and a great school. My mother and I discussed our

options at the end of my junior year and decided it was time to head back to Texas after living in Indiana for a couple years. We often decide family decisions together and work as a team to give each other the best opportunities in life.

          My mom, brother, and I packed everything and headed down to Temple Texas to get back to our southern “family” and obtain in state residency for TAMU. Because of my constant moving and different states having different requirements, I was not going to be top ten percent. I had an option to play soccer at Mary Hardin Baylor only 20 minutes away from where we lived at the time, which was tempting because I loved athletics, but it did not feel right.

            I took a gamble. Even though this is out of character for someone who loves to have control, all I wanted was A&M. I sent in one application. Four transcripts to one school.  With my mom’s support, I decided that this was the only thing I wanted. Refreshing my howdy constantly, I was an anxious mess waiting for the decision. All of my friends had heard back. I was the last. I waited and waited, but my aggie banner never came in the mail. Rejection is the quickest shortcut to growth. Failure is the catalyst to learning. I received my admission with conditions attached. It was a blow to my pride. Was I not as smart as my classmates who received admission so quickly, while I had to take even more classes to prove my worth? By putting everything on the line, I have realized I am willing to take a huge chance and do whatever necessary until I get what I wanted.

          Later on  learned that someone in the admissions office read my application essays decided based on those few paragraphs of my life, that I deserved a chance to be an aggie. I cannot imagine my life without Texas A&M University. Someday I will be that old ag spreading my love for the aggie family and who knows maybe I will inspire more students to follow in my footsteps. Looking back I realize more and more how much of a chance I took, but I would not trade my experience here at A&M and would take the leap over and over.

 

 

 

 

 

CHANGING MAJORS

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          Since the first time I was asked what I wanted to do I would

always reply with doctor. Not a nurse, not caregiver, a doctor. I had

certain family members in the field who tried to scare me away

from the path starting in middle school, but I stuck with it until

my sophomore year in college. I was in premedical clubs,

shadowing doctors, volunteering in hospitals, all while trying to

balance grades and the challenges of being a freshman in college.

I was falling behind. Passing classes would not be enough, middle

of the pack was not enough, I felt as if I was not enough.  My mother

expected me to carry on believing my determination would pull me

through  even if I was not earning medical school worthy grades.

Everyone around me looked like they were breezing through or giving

up things that I could not. It made me question if I even belong at college.

My entire philosophy for living was that someday I may save a life. I refused to give up initially, but my premedical advisor starting pointing me in other directions. I decided to take a step in a different direction without leaving medical school completely behind. I changed my major to University Studies Business with minors in Biology and Anthropology. This major was still on the path to medical school. While taking classes I excelled at in the business school I was falling deeply behind in microbiology. I realized it was time to let go of my dreams.

           It was like a death. A part of me I had always imagined passed away. In order to move on with my life, I had to grieve the loss and move on. It was the first decision I had made completely on my own that had serious repercussions. Even though my support system, friends and family, did not understand why I was “quitting”, I saw that I was not focusing on my strengths but rather a projection of what I wanted my strengths to be. Changing my minor from biology to human resource development was the last step in cutting off my dream. Even though I have not found my purpose or path yet, I believe I learned a lot about myself through the process.

           No longer am I trying to mold myself around an occupation or direction, but rather use my “God given” strengths and talents and mold a path around those strengths. I learned that I am brave enough to stand out on a limb for myself when no one else thought it was a good idea. It was a realization that other’s input is important, but I am the only one who is living my life and following through with these decisions. It was my first decision where I chose quality of life over prestige and monetary gain. This decision closed off one possible life path, but opened up my possibilities across the board. Every day I think about my failure that has put me on my path to success. This risky decision is similar to my brilliant idea to apply only to one school, Texas A&M University.

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RISKY BUSINESS

 

            Nepotism sucks until you are on the receiving end of it.

My parents never went to college and my dad couldn’t even hold

on to a landscaping job, how was I supposed to make

connections? After becoming a business major, I quickly realized

the who you know part  of my life was going to be difficult at the

start.  I like figuring people out and getting to know others

genuinely, the getting to know someone for what they have is

something I have always struggled with.

          I needed an internship, badly. Application after application

went without notice and my email box was empty. I realized that

sending my resume to hundreds of companies was not going to work.

My roommate had said something about her brother doing an internship with her mother’s company and hinted at helping me. The last thing I wanted to do was do what I loathed others for. Using the back door to get a job you did not deserve was the last thing I wanted. My roommate, now best friend, is brutal just like her mother. She told me I deserved a chance and because of her honesty from previous occasions, I trusted her. I sent my resume along and was given an interview. Her mom said after sending my resume to HR that she would have nothing to do with the interview selection process.

          The night before my second interview was an experience in itself. I arrived at the hotel the company had set up at 1am due to having to leave after my late class that day. Surprise, the room was in someone else’s name and I would not be able to stay there that night. After pleading with the desk worker and explaining how I was about to sleep outside alone in downtown Dallas, he told me he would help me out. With barely any sleep, I got ready for the next day. I entered my second interview and found out it was not even for Human Resources as I thought and it was a  case study interview with other interviewees on risk. Nothing was going right, but I would not let those things get in the way of my only opportunity.  I powered through the interview and felt like I made a good connection with the manager. Even if I had no idea what risk management was, I was going to do my best at it.

          After a couple of long weeks I got the call, I was given an offer to be a risk management intern!  I am still not entirely sure what that is, but I did it. It was a summer of learning about social capital and office antics. I met the C-suite of the company and was able to work with them in meetings. The most important take away from the experience was being exposed to work life balance. Workplace balance is very different from college balance. It has made me think of what path I am going to take and if it is more or less important to me than having a family life. My life is a series of taking chances and making them work out even if it looked like it never would.