Memoir

     Growing up, my dream college had always been Texas A&M in College Station. Actually, scratch that, has. It still is. In my head, I have always pictured myself on the campus in that little bubble they show on cartoons. I honestly cannot picture myself anywhere else. When looking for a college, I have always kept in mind the kind of traditions it has, the school spirit, the variety of classes it offers as well as majors, the history behind the university, and the size. TAMU, overall, is such a well-rounded school. It has everything one could possibly ask for.

Ever since I visited Texas A&M University in fifth grade, I loved it! I think I might have loved it a little more because my best friends, Amanda and Rosario, were with me during our visit. Everything seemed so perfect there. It was like this ideal imaginary world that somehow did exist. The day my classmates and I went, there were two students giving us a tour: Amy and Javier. Amy was a short, fit, and friendly person. She seemed like one of those people that loved to make friends. She always had a smile on her face and really made us feel welcome. I guess it was fair to say that she fit in perfectly at that university. On the other hand, Javier looked like more of a shy guy. Although he did not do much of the talking, he definitely answered any questions we had. Based on his vocabulary, he sounded very intelligent, but he was quiet for the most part. He looked like the kind of guy who would be in the Honors College. I believe that both of our guides were chosen perfectly because they each had characteristics that described the school. They were each talking to us about all the different traditions. My favorite two were The 12th Man and the Century Oak Tree.

We were all touring the campus and far from it, there was an immense building that had an open roof. By the looks of it, I knew it was the stadium. I asked Amanda just to make sure, and she agreed with me. I remember someone asking a question about sports and pep rallies, so we just started walking towards it. As we entered the stadium, I could not help but just look around over and over. It was humongous! There were so many seats; I did not even have a clue about how many people could fit in there. It was bigger than any stadium I had ever seen! The grass was so green and beautiful. It smelled a lot like a mixture of wet grass and dirt, but I somehow enjoyed that smell. It smelled exactly like it does when it rains. Fresh. While visiting the stadium, Amy told us how throughout the entire football game, the student body stand up for the whole game in order to show their support. I just kept thinking how amazing that was because it must really take a lot to stand for those 3 to 4 hours. My feet would be killing me! The heels of my feet would be in more pain than they usually get when I spend the whole day at the mall. 

After visiting the stadium, we all started walking to where the Century Oak Tree was. While my classmates and I were walking, we encountered several people and every last one of them said "Howdy" to us. How was that even possible? I mean, it happened, so it was obviously possible, but I never thought that even come close to happening. I had been to the University of Houston before, and the people there were nowhere near as friendly as the people at TAMU.  At the University of Houston, I smiled at people, and most of the students just kind of looked over you. Yes, there were a few that smiled back, but that is as far as anything went. There were no “hellos” or, “hi, how are you?” Because of an experience in the past, I would have thought several of the students at Texas A&M would have just stared at us pass by and not said a thing, but it was the complete opposite. The people there were just extremely nice. Everyone there seemed so friendly. 

When we finally got to the Century Oak Tree, we did not go through it, just around it.  According to what Javier told us, tradition says that you are supposed to go under the tree with the person you wish to spend the rest of your life with. If you go under the tree with that special person, you will be with them forever. If you go under the tree alone, then supposedly you will be alone forever. I did not want to risk it, for tradition's sake. That tree was so beautiful, though. It was enormous. I have always loved Oak trees, and I would have to say that the one at A&M is definitely the best of the best.  It has been there for more than 100 years, so I am sure anyone could imagine how long the branches were. Some of those branches were long and sturdy enough to sit on. Its branches reached all the way to the floor, and the tree itself was extremely tall. Amazed by the tree, I did not notice that everyone had started walking towards the grass area to have a picnic. I heard Rosario call me, but I guess I wasn't really paying attention. I kind of just stared at the tree for a little while longer, and eventually I caught up with my class. 

Amanda, Rosario, and I sat down on the grass which was surprisingly soft. For the most part, when I sit on grass, it feels spiky and it bothers my legs, but this time it felt fresh. As corny as it sounds, it actually felt like that was where I wanted to be. It felt as if I was where I was supposed to be. We started to eat some sandwiches we had brought from school. It was the typical brown bag, soggy sandwich everyone got at elementary school. Yucky. The sandwich was accompanied with chips, which is usually the only thing everyone eats, but we were all hungry that day. 

While we kept munching, some of the students from that university were passing by and almost every single one had something that showed their school spirit. Some people had A&M backpacks, others had hats, but most of them had t-shirts. I actually owned a t-shirt from that university, so I thought I was already set. I know that school was probably the third university I had visited ever since I began school, but I was certain that it had the most school spirit I had ever seen. Wouldn't it be such a great experience to grow up knowing I was a part of that? Most definitely! I swear, that day, I just wanted my life to fast forward to the day it was time for me to go to college. I mean, who wouldn't want to attend that university? It was perfect.

Besides the beautiful campus and the tremendous amount of school spirit, TAMU also offers the classes I need for my intended career. The school itself has 12 different colleges, and within those colleges, they have so many majors you are able to pursue. Out of the twelve, I have thought about five different ones. I have been going back and forth on what I want to study as soon as I start college, but I am so unsure. I have an enormous amount of love for math, so I know that I will definitely be studying something in that field. The only problem I have is that I just don't know what. 

When I began middle school that was when I found the love I had for math. My teacher, Mrs. Basset, was the kind of teacher that you could tell loved doing what she did. The year had barely started, but I knew, then, that what I wanted to do was teach. I even began tutoring some kids at my school whom were in the same grade as I was. I loved tutoring people that had trouble with math because it just kind of came naturally to me. Besides knowing the material, I always had the patience to explain things over and over. I even did a little research that year, and I found out that Texas A&M has the College of Education and Human Development which includes becoming an Aggie Teacher, Teacher Certification, and much more. How awesome would it be to attend my dream school and then, one day, teach there? I really did think that my mind would not change about teaching, but as the years passed, it did.

Once I got a little older, my mind kind of broadened a bit. I discovered different things that interested me, so my mind drifted from teaching; it was now focused on business. I knew that TAMU had Mays Business School which includes accounting, finance, information and operations management, management, and marketing. All of those majors under that college seemed interesting to me. I had looked into accounting, but accounting was one of those things where you sat behind a little cubicle and did your own thing, so although it had a lot of math, I had placed it as my last choice. Finance, management, and marketing were the ones I was most interested in. I've always thought about playing a huge role in a well known company, so this branch was definitely something I would keep my eye on. 

Texas A&M also has the Dwight Look College of Engineering which includes Computer Science and Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering Technology & Industrial Distribution, and many more. This college really caught my attention because I am also in love with computers and all of this modern technology, so I was absolutely fascinated. I really thought about focusing on this, but technology has really been updating, so there would always be things I would need to catch up with. Not that being informed and catching up with how things are now is bad, but I was not as excited because that would mean I would have to be in school my whole life. If I did decide to study that field, I would take class after class because there would always be information I would need to know.

When I was smaller, about seven years old, I loved animals so much. I always thought about wanting to become a veterinarian when I grew up. Although I did not know how important college was back then, if I did, my path would have been set because my dream college has the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences which includes Large Animal Clinical Sciences and Small Animal Clinical Sciences. Meaning, if I ever changed my mind out of nowhere, I would be safe, career wise. 

If all else fails, I can always just study math in general and attend the College of Science which includes Mathematics. When taking math classes, I will probably figure out which ones is my favorite and distinguish what are my strengths and weaknesses when it comes to that subject. Then, I will be able to see what kind of math courses I need to take for certain jobs and make my decision based on that.  Whatever it is I want to study, or no matter how many times I change my mind, I believe A&M has just about everything I would think about studying. 

In fact, Texas A&M University is the state's first public institution of higher education. It is one of only three Tier 1 universities in the state. With more than 50,000 students and more than 5,200 acres of land, TAMU is also one of the nation’s largest universities. On July 2, 1862, the university’s ownership to the Morrill Act was approved by the United States Congress. The purpose of this act was to provide a higher education whose object was “without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and mechanic arts." In 1876, admission was limited to white males, and, as required by the Morrill Act, all students were required to participate in military training. In the 1960s, as president of the University of Texas A&M, General James Earl Rudder made a lot of changes. During his term in office, the university opened its doors for African-Americans as well as women. Also, any type of military tactics was no longer something everyone was required to do, but rather voluntary. Although the Corps of Cadets became voluntary during this time, it has continued to play a massive role in the university. In 1963, the Texas state legislature officially renamed the school to Texas A&M University, with the "A" and "M" being a symbolic relation to the school's past but no longer officially standing for "Agricultural and Mechanical."

In all honesty, Texas A&M University is and has always been the school I have wanted to go to; it’s all I have ever looked forward to while attending high school. Being part of not only the student body, but the school itself with all of its amazing historical background, would be such a pleasure. Knowing that I attended a humble school would bring me so much joy. I would be more than happy to be able to say, “I graduated from Texas A&M University.”  

Personally, I have always liked big schools because there is always much more to them. First, you have a diverse student body. I have always loved meeting new people, so having friends from a different religion, sexuality, race, or ethnicity is always something to look forward to. I find it incredibly fascinating to getting to know a person’s view on something. Of course, we all have different opinions, and that’s what is so great! Meeting someone from a different culture that had different values as you is always interesting. Second, because the school is big, the options have to be big as well. This means you have hundreds and hundreds of classes to choose from, and that means majors as well. For me, this is a huge benefit because of my current situation. Third, you have so many opportunities to get involved. There are an immense number of groups or organizations you can join to draw yourself in with the school. Next, if you have a love for sports, no doubt, bigger schools are always better. Although I do not play sports, I love to watch them. Texas A&M will be perfect! Lastly, you get to do things independently. Although this may seem like a bad thing, it is really not. Going to a big school helps you out in the long run. Because it’s such a big school, you kind of have lookout for yourself and in life, this is exactly what you have to do. You have to be your own supporter at the university, just like you will be when you have your own job, your own house, or your own car.