There’s a Spirit Can Ne’er be Told…
- Campusology #10
Over the summer of 2017, my wife Lara and I sold our home in the Dallas suburbs and moved down to the College Station area, settling in the intimate rural community of Calvert which is 35 miles north of campus on Highway 6. It was a significant drive each day but neither of us minded because we had been used to paying tolls and driving longer separate commutes in horrible traffic back in the Dallas metroplex. To us, the daily drive through the country near A&M was a nice vacation. Besides, being that far out allowed us to buy a bigger home with a huge yard in the quiet of the country. Lara had secured her job at College View High School right next to the A&M campus where she could look out the big windows and see the golf course. I still had no idea what I was going to do for money but that didn’t really bother me too much at the time. I was more interested in learning absolutely everything I could about being an Aggie. And so, I signed up for Aggie Transition Camp, or ATC as it is known.
Like Fish Camp for freshman students, ATC was the place where all incoming transfer students learned the traditions to become a full-blown Aggie. The trouble was, while my heart wanted to jump in with both feet, being an older guy, I wasn’t quite sure I would fit in or if ATC was even really for me. In fact, I hesitated to even sign up. But, wanting to get the most out of the Aggieland experience, I finally did register. Still, I had my reservations. After all, I was 41 years old and would probably be around teenagers and kids in their early 20s.
On the day of camp, I packed my clothes for the weekend and drove down to campus, not certain that I would actually go through with it. I was an adult and not quite sure I wanted to put myself at the whim of a bunch of teenagers and twenty-year-olds who hadn’t had the chance to see and do the level of things that I had done in life. I had been a firefighter and paramedic saving lives and rushing into burning buildings. Literally. I had been on big film sets in Hollywood and was an award-winning filmmaker and teacher. In my mind I pondered Why do I even need to go to this weekend retreat with a bunch of annoying kids? Still, I kept on driving toward campus.
When I got to College Station, I drove down George Bush and came up to Lot 40 on campus where I knew I was supposed to park. But as I came up on it, I saw a parking lot full of young people who all seemed excited and happy to be there. Looking closer, there were a bunch of students dressed in colorful bright clothes with crazy-colored hair and bandanas. They were holding hand-drawn signs that said things like “WELCOME!” and jumping up and down with bounding energy. I felt myself sneering at them. I approached the turn and slowed down but when I saw a group of students with multicolored clothing and huge smiles on their faces turn to look right at me in my vehicle as I approached, I began to question everything. I caught the eye of one young woman who seemed super excited to be there. She had green in her hair, a green tutu, and green socks. Instead of turning into the parking lot, I quickly turned my head back to the road and sped away.
“Nope. I’m not doing that.” I said to myself as my heart began to race and I continued down the road. That looks STUPID. In the rearview mirror, the large group of students began to fade away as I sped down George Bush, passed Kyle Field, and turned right onto Wellborn on my way back north to return home. I sighed with huge relief and allowed myself to settle in. Whew, that was close, I thought to myself. I almost had to spend an entire weekend with all those idiots. Now I can just go back to the peace of the country, spend time with Lara, and relax in our new home. I continued driving and allowed myself to calm down.
But then, in the quiet of my mind, I sensed another voice. It wasn’t a voice that I could actually hear but I recognized the message as if I could discern its clear understanding. As I kept driving, the voice said to me,
Where are you going? Haven’t you already been down this road before? You already know where it leads. It leads to disappointment.
I kept driving down Wellborn headed north. I took a deep breath as I considered what exactly the “voice” in my head was telling me. Maybe it was specific direction from the Holy Spirit or perhaps it was just my own inner self-talk. Either way, I began to process the message further as I drove. Perhaps the voice was right. I thought about my life before getting to A&M and wishing I could be right here. Just a week ago, I would have given anything to show up on campus as a student and learn about the traditions. I knew darn well what my life was like before this. Everything was not as good as I wanted it to be. I took everything for granted. I had been given so many blessings and opportunities and took advantage of a lot of them but much of it I did with a condescending and half-hearted effort. Why do I do this?!
As University Drive approached on the northwest corner of the main campus, I yanked the wheel to the right and turned my truck to head east. I decided to at least make the block around campus. I wasn’t quite sure yet if I was going all the way back around. I was just going to keep driving to provide myself with time to examine exactly what was going on inside me and the argument that was apparently taking place between my mind and heart. I drove on, past the bars and restaurants of Northgate on my left and the campus on my right.
I thought for a long moment in silence as I drove. The only sound around me was the deep hum of my truck with the big tires rolling down the pavement of University Drive. My thoughts returned to the overly excited students wearing crazy bright colors, jumping up and down. In my mind, I saw them and they seemed really over the top. I felt like it was too much excitement. But then the conversation with myself continued. It went something like this:
Cynical Andy: Man, I don’t need to go to some camp with a bunch of overzealous, highly caffeinated kids. I’m an adult! I’d rather just go home to hang out in the air conditioning with Lara and my dogs and rest up before school starts. That’s the smart thing to do.
Real Andy: Look dude, you’ve already lived a life of making adult decisions and wishing you would have just gone all out for your dreams. You have envied your other buddies who got to go to A&M twenty years ago for their fun, traditions, and Aggie rings. Now here you are with that exact opportunity as if God actually gave you a second chance. People hardly ever get a second chance to get what they really want in life. JUST DO IT!
Cynical Andy: I don’t even think they are going to like you being around. You’re too old and that’s just weird.
Real Andy: That’s not even true! You taught high school and church youth groups. All the kids LOVE you! You are so young at heart that you fit in just like one of them!
Cynical Andy: That’s just not really who I am anymore. I’ve seen too much as a firefighter and paramedic. I’ve seen things. Terrible things.
Real Andy: So what? Yeah, you’ve been an adult and seen some horrible trauma as a firefighter/paramedic. But that doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be completely happy. In fact, your service to the community means that you deserve to allow yourself to feel great joy after what you have been through. Now shut your face and just go!
Cynical Andy: That’s just not who I am.
Real Andy: This is exactly who you are! You are the positive, warm-hearted, encouraging, youthful yet experienced adult who has been waiting his entire life to go to Texas A&M. By God, you are going to be the best Aggie anyone could ever know. Just do it!
Cynical Andy: …
Real Andy: You are smart enough to get into Texas A&M. You’ve been longing for this your entire life. You are a positive and excited person that motivates others around you. Now let yourself be inspired and enjoy what has taken you over two decades to achieve. Go NOW!
I turned the wheel right again and found myself driving south on Texas Avenue. I looked over at the beautiful golf course sprawling out before me with large campus buildings in the distance. I kept driving. Eventually, I turned right again back onto George Bush. I had circled the entire campus and was right back where I started.
Real Andy: Okay man. Now, let’s just do this. No matter what, we are going to go all in because you deserve this. You are smart enough because you are here. You belong.
I arrived back at the entrance to Lot 40 and saw the goofy and colorfully dressed students jumping around with excitement. I pulled my truck into the lot, found a parking spot, and grabbed my bag of weekend clothes. I was immediately greeted by a kind group of students who were clearly welcoming everyone. They took my bag and walked with me and a group of students who would also be attending “T-camp.” We walked through the crowded parking lot and across Throckmorton Street to arrive at a building that had a huge gold Aggie ring out front. The ring was bigger than a person and you could walk right through it. I would later come to know the building as The Association of Former Students. We went inside and joined a larger gathering of students who were learning how to introduce themselves like true, motivated Aggies. A couple of the official welcome counselors had introduced themselves and now it was another person’s turn. I watched and listened as the next person went.
“Howdy!” a young man yelled. Everyone in the room stopped talking and paid attention to the guy. I don’t remember his name but the introduction by the young man continued. It went something like this as he shouted enthusiastically.
“I’m a sophomore engineering major from The Woodlands, Texas. But more importantly, I am the loudest and the proudest member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2020! A - A - A Whoop!”
The group clapped and cheered. The next person began their introduction just as another counselor entered the room. It was the same girl I had seen greeting cars as they were turning into Lot 40, the one wearing all the green. I had locked eyes with her and decided to drive away the first time I was approaching the lot. Now here inside the building she noticed me and for some reason walked over.
“I like your shirt,” she said, smiling and pointing to what I was wearing. I hadn’t thought much about the exact shirt I had on and was forced to look down to remember. It was my favorite blue x-wing fighter Star Wars shirt. Ah, a fellow Star Wars fan! I might be okay here! I looked back up.
“Thank you!” I replied and took the opportunity to extend the conversation with a statement that would explain just how old I was, making sure she and everyone else around knew that I wasn’t there to be a creepy old man, just an excited new Aggie hoping to learn the traditions. I continued, “Yeah The Empire Strikes Back was the first movie I ever saw in the theater way back in 1980. That’s how old I am.”
The girl laughed and explained that she was a huge Star Wars fan. What was even more interesting to find out was that she was an actress and had been in the running to be Rey in the new Star Wars movies that had just started to come out. But most interesting was how kind and welcoming she was. Here I was, this goofy older guy who was feeling really self-conscious about even being at a retreat with a bunch of twenty-year-olds. Yet right away, amidst the joyous energy and excitement, this kind person came over to make sure I felt welcome. I can tell you looking back at it, that moment was something that I will never, ever forget because I knew right then, I belonged. And that is exactly what I grew to love about Aggieland. Once you are in, you are family forever.
“I’m Katelyn,” the girl said.
“Andrew,” was my grateful reply. The conversation might have continued but just then, Katelyn was called out by one of the other counselors to make her introduction. She walked to the center of a big circle of people that had gathered while we were talking and took a deep breath.
“Howdy!” Katelyn confidently called out loud to the entire room before continuing. “My name is Katelyn Ledbetter and I’m a senior manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology major from Garland, Texas.” There was a slight pause as Katelyn took a deep breath and prepared herself for the final boisterous statement. “But more importantly, I am the loudest, the proudest, the most red-ass member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2019. A - A - A - WHOOP!”
Once again the crowd cheered and clapped to celebrate Katelyn’s introduction. But I want to be clear here and say that Katelyn’s intro was a little different and more personalized than the few people before her. When she got to the “loudest” and “proudest” part, she really slowed it down and put almost a fun valley girl twist on it that made it super fun to hear and watch. She said it more like,
“I am the uh LOUDEST… and… the… PROUDEST… most red-ass member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2019…”
It was funny and motivating and everyone seemed to love it. More than that, it showed me that there was room at Texas A&M for people to be themselves. I started to really feel like I was going to make it here and even love it.
The introductions continued around the circle that had naturally formed and finally, it was my turn. Okay, I thought to myself. If I am going to do this, I am going to go all in. I am not holding anything back. I took a little step forward to separate myself from the circle, cleared my throat, and took a deep breath.
“Howdy!” I joyously proclaimed. “My name is Andrew Patterson and I am a freshman geography major from Coppell, Texas.” I paused and took another breath before continuing with confidence and gusto. “But more importantly… I am the LOUDEST… the PROUDEST… most inspirational member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2021. Aaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
And like that, I was officially recognized as an Aggie. The room erupted with applause, cheers, and whoops. It was an awesome feeling for sure but I also have to admit that I still had reservations about allowing myself to feel completely at ease with calling myself an Aggie and trusting that this dream had really come true. I still didn’t have a job so I had no idea how I was going to pay for my time at A&M or my share of the bills. I didn’t have any scholarship or funding from the university. And I really wasn’t sure what the heck I was even doing here. I mean, my current plan was just to get another bachelor’s degree and see what happened from there. I was definitely starting to feel like an accepted Aggie but at the same time was worried the rug might be pulled out from under my feet at any time. I was having a blast but there still were lots of questions I had no idea how to answer.
However, the weekend of learning Aggie traditions and forming new friendships had begun. It all started with one single person coming up to tell me they liked my shirt. It’s surprising just how positive and influential one small kind gesture can be. What Katelyn did for me changed my life. She personally welcomed me into the family and made sure I knew my place was secure. After we finished all our greetings at the Alumni Association, we loaded up on buses and headed out to the country for a weekend retreat of activity, making friends, learning traditions, and finding purpose. I will not hesitate to say that it was one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. I had done so many incredible things up to that point but this new adventure in Aggieland was so wonderful and humbling that I found myself simply grateful and excited for the entire experience. One of the greatest aspects is that I finally began to allow myself to truly enjoy the blessing of moments both big and small. The old disappointment and cynical way of protecting myself quickly began to fade. Seriously. T-camp was kind of like magic in that respect. I caught the spirit and I was not going to let it fade.
I knew full well the opportunity I had been given because I had been waiting for it my whole life. Sitting in one of the large cabins at camp in the middle of the east Texas piney woods while the counselors acted out skits to explain the history of A&M, I compared sitting in other organizations in the past where I would have silently criticized the leaders and been absolutely annoyed at having to endure such goofy drivel. I thought about my time as a firefighter sitting in training classes in my twenties. It should have been an exciting time to learn how to fight fire and save lives. But to be honest with you, the majority of the time spent in training, I would commonly be caught up in complaints with a few older seasoned firefighters who chastised the trainers from the back of the room and produced a negative environment of condescension. Yes, a lot of the time it was just joking around. But I carried that negativity with me because I wanted to be like those older veteran firefighters when I was just an inexperienced rookie. That negative humor became my own. I don’t blame them. I am the one who chose that humor for myself to match my own inner feelings of insecurity and doubt. I just didn’t consciously know that was happening in my subconscious back then.
I thought of sitting in teacher training as an educator with my buddy teachers as we belittled the people training us and made fun of their idiosyncrasies, rudely snickering and goofing around as we hid in the back of the room. I’m embarrassed to admit that’s who I had been and I apologize to you as the reader now. But here I was at a camp with young adults. I told myself it was going to be a new beginning. And by God, it was. No more would I allow myself to subversively chastise the people giving their best to an organization as a subconscious way of protecting myself from my own disappointment. If anything, being myself at camp around a whole bunch of Aggies who welcomed me and believed in me only gave me more confidence. From that point on, I was never going to hold anything back. I did not care what anyone else would think about me. If ever there was going to be a place to do such a thing, it seemed that Aggieland was it.
There were so many great experiences at T-camp that I could probably write another book about just that weekend. One fantastic moment was when our cabin of about fifty people sat around telling stories about why each of us made the decision to come to A&M. When it came to my turn, I stood up in front of the entire group and told them that I had wanted the Aggie experience my entire life and relayed the difficulty of the journey while yearning to be something more for years and years until finally my dream came true. By the end of my explanation, many people had tears in their eyes, including my new friend Katelyn who was one of the counselors in our cabin. I held nothing back. I let all my failures and frustrations out and balanced it with my own tears of joy when I finally got to take the campus tour as a real student. It was a story for the ages. And that was just one of many wonderful moments from that incredible weekend.
But for the purpose of moving this story along, I want to highlight perhaps the best and most motivating experience from the retreat.
Much of the time at camp was spent memorizing what Aggies call yells. At other schools, they might be known as cheers but in Aggieland, the yells are meant to be shouted as loud as you possibly can. Thus the reason why they are called yells. Back in the day, an entrepreneurial student figured out that you can yell a great deal louder if you are bent over just a bit because it opens your windpipe. Hence, from that point forward everyone in the student body positions themselves in the “hump it” position with knees slightly bent and hands braced on the knees. Come just once to Kyle Field and hear one hundred thousand people yelling together. It’s amazing. But for me, as a brand new student experiencing them for the very first time with just a few hundred people in an auditorium in the middle of the woods, it was awesome.
The best times of the weekend were right there, inside an auditorium with my new friends all hyped up and yelling loudly together. Our camp counselors stood before us dressed in decorated overalls that said their names and years of graduation as they moved their hands like highly trained orchestra directors and we all learned the yells together. Imagine three hundred motivated students bellowing as loud as they can and the sound it made indoors. It was motivating.
Farmers fight! Farmers fight! Fight! Fight! Farmers, farmers fight! AAAAAAAAAAA!
It was loud and echoed off the concrete floor and fabricated walls all weekend long. And just like in our introductions, at the end of every yell we each did our respective wildcat.
The “wildcat” was the tradition of letting everyone around you know exactly what year you were. Freshmen simply said one long A and held up both hands while sophomores said A five times in a row while pointing both hands down like guns and shooting. Juniors placed both their hands together to form one gun and pointed down while yelling A - A - A - Whoop. And seniors got to show off their Aggie rings by forming a gun with both hands, pointing up in the air, and yelling A - Whoop! It’s fun and it makes a whole lot of random noise.
The motivating factor is that only upperclassmen get to “whoop” at the end of their wildcats. It’s a tradition freshman and sophomores have to anticipate. As an incoming transfer student, I could have chosen to do a sophomore or junior wildcat because I definitely had the hours. But thinking I might spend four years at A&M, I decided to go with the freshman wildcat and enjoy the entire process as it was meant to develop. And enjoy it, I did. In fact, I had a favorite yell that I would allow myself to go crazy about when the yell leaders signaled it was coming. It went like this…
One of the counselors acting like a yell leader would pump their fist up and down in the air with their other hand holding the fist pump back at the bicep. To me, it was a great way of physically showing the exact spirit of what we were going to do. It was like the yell leader was saying “shove it” in an aggressive manner or at least saying we were going to cram our spirit down the throats of the opposing team. I loved the sentiment and every time we did the yell, I went crazy and motivated every one of my new Aggie friends around me to be as loud as possible. It became my personal tradition that I carried with me through all my years at A&M. Everyone came to know that the chant was my favorite because the moment the yell leader signaled it, I screamed out, “Yeah this one is my favorite!” at the top of my lungs. Before long, people around me would join the excitement by saying things like, “This one is Patterson’s favorite!” It was silly but really fun.
As the counselors acting as yell leaders made the motion, we joined them by making the same motion ourselves. Hundreds of fists pumped up and down together in the joyous crowd.
“Pass it back Ags!” The counselors directed. And we, in turn, let everyone around us and behind us know that the next yell was coming by pumping our fists up and down as well.
“Hump it Ags!” shouted the counselors and we all bent slightly over to assume the hump-it position as we each took a deep breath in anticipation. The counselors counted down and motioned with their arms to get ready. Then, all together we exclaimed in boisterous unison…
Beat the hell outta Texas! AAAAAAAA!!!
And the place would go crazy with cheers and whoops. It was short and sweet but I loved it. But perhaps the greatest thing about that yell was that after the chant, we had the opportunity to encourage the counselors to do it again by raising one finger and screaming “One more!” Believe me, I took every single opportunity to push them to do it at least two more times. The exciting challenge was to see if we could motivate them to lead us in the yell more than twice. If that ever happened, I considered it greatness. Why? Just for the fun of it. I was finally an Aggie. Nothing was going to dampen my spirits or tell me what I was doing was childish. I had lived an entire lifetime of wishing I wouldn’t have held back and been more reserved than I really wanted. Now, it seemed like it was the time to let it all hang out.
The counselors led us through the yells and we joyously followed suit. But perhaps the best moment of the entire weekend was during the last yell practice on Sunday morning as we were all getting ready to be fired up. Suddenly, the doors to the auditorium swung open wide to reveal three extremely well-built young men dressed up in bright white starch uniforms. It was the real Aggie yell leaders and they had driven out to the woods to lead us in our practice. And what a motivating yell practice it was. You have never heard an indoor auditorium so loud. I had goosebumps the entire time.
Toward the end of the practice after many powerful yells, the yell leaders asked that the counselors send down a few people they thought were the most spirited and deserved to lead. Everyone around me looked right at me. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was just this goofy old guy who thought perhaps I didn’t even fit in. But in the short moment I had to think about it, I realized I had been the loudest one all weekend, motivating others around me to do the same. Hesitating for just a few seconds out of fear of doing the hand motions wrong, I headed down the steps and joined the yell leaders in front of everyone while many other students did the same.
By the time we all got settled, there was a pretty large group of us down front. But that actually made the experience even better. This was Aggieland at its finest. Here I was, an older, average guy standing alongside the poster boys for Texas A&M University and I was actually one of them. But the best was yet to come. The head yell leader signaled for the next yell. He pumped his fist up and down and said, “Pass it back Ags!” I enthusiastically pumped my arm up and down and looked into the stands of the auditorium, bewildered at all my new friends looking down at me with huge smiles on their faces. This was the amazing place to which I had arrived.
“One… two.. three…” the head yell leader barked. In unison, we screamed together…
“Beat the hell outta Texas! AAAAAAA!”
The place went wild. It was so completely satisfying that I immediately yelled and signaled that we needed to do it again. I raised my finger in the air.
“One more!” I screamed and then repeated, “One more!” There was a cheer from the crowd and other fingers raised from within the depths of the audience in the stands. A moment passed and the head yell leader raised his arm and began to pump it up and down again. The crowd went nuts as we prepared to do it again. Yes, this is awesome! I said to myself as I cheered out loud and vigorously pumped my own arm up and down and called for my friends to pass it back themselves.
“Hump it Ags!” The head yell leader loudly directed. Once again we all prepared and the room fell silent. And once again we chanted,
“Beat the hell outta Texas! AAAAAA!!!!”
Again the building was blasted by cheering and enthusiasm. After the yell without even taking a breath, I did not hesitate to raise my finger and scream to suggest that we do the yell again. To my surprise and sheer excitement, we did the yell a third time, and then a fourth. The atmosphere was electric. People were jumping up and down and there were smiles running like waves across everyone’s faces as I gazed up upon the crowd. I was having so much fun that I couldn’t help but make the gesture with my finger to signify my request, just one more time. The head yell leader looked back at me. I swear I saw a twinkle of delight in his eye as he nodded his head and turned back around. He raised his fist up in the air and pumped his arm up and down again. The audience went absolutely bonkers. People were jumping up and down and screaming. It was so much fun that I could not help feeling my smile all the way down the depths of my soul. It had been one heck of an amazing weekend and this was the greatest way to send us back to campus.
If you are not an Aggie and you have never experienced a massive yell practice when you are surrounded by all your friends and led by the most disciplined and yet fun group of yell leaders, then I can certainly understand some potential hesitation and even questioning whether or not I and everyone else in the place had gone insane. All we were doing was just cheering. That’s it. We were simply cheering for our team to win and there wasn’t even a team playing! But that exact type of thought process was what had held me back from the total and pure joy that I had always wanted. I had done some incredible things in my life. I certainly had a good amount of joy. But I had missed so many opportunities in life just because I had chosen to designate them as insignificant.
If I learned anything over the years while waiting to go to a place like A&M was that each moment is absolutely and incredibly unique, something to be cherished. Because of my long years of waiting, I recognized that never again would I be a forty-something-year-old guy who was standing with the official yell leaders from Texas A&M, leading a crowd of rambunctious Aggies as we all yelled in unison to support each other and our team. One more time we yelled at the top of our lungs…
“Beat the hell outta Texas! AAAAA!!!!!”
The audience erupted in whoops, cheers, and clapping. Everyone was hugging. It was a moment I will never forget. All of us new recruits were now officially Aggies, fully trained and experienced in the traditions and lore that we had all so greatly desired. Shortly after, we loaded back up on the buses and made our way home to College Station. When I arrived through the door of my own home, my wife Lara greeted me with a giant hug. I was wearing a green bandana signifying the group of friends I had made from my specific team and a matching green t-shirt.
“You look like you are young again!” exclaimed my wife. And with a great big smile on my face I replied with overflowing joy in my heart.
“I know. And I feel like it too,” I said as tears streamed down my face.
I wish I could relate to you just exactly how that felt. The truth is, you just need to experience it for yourself. It’s a wonderful and humbling overload of emotions being an Aggie.
In the state of Texas, there are various sayings about specific places you might have heard about. In the capital city, the people there hope to “keep Austin weird.” It’s a unique demographic of people that aren’t what you might necessarily consider the mainstream country redneck folk. In Austin they are perhaps more conscious of world events and that comes across as weird to the normal Texas mystique. Up in north Texas, you might hear the phrase “Dallas pretentiousness” regarding the class of people hoping to be recognized as residing in privileged locations such as Highland Park where the trees are hundreds of years old and the teenagers all drive Bentleys and BMWs to school. While I certainly wasn’t from Highland Park, growing up in Coppell I felt just about the same and learned to treat other people with Texas kindness but at the same time, to consider myself above most anyone else around me. I had certainly been indoctrinated with Dallas pretentiousness.
Aggieland has its stated sentiment as well. I had just been indoctrinated and my life would never be the same. Yeah, I drank the Koolade and it was delicious. You see, I was a certain level of person before I came to A&M, and just spending the weekend with a bunch of kind-hearted and spirited Aggies changed my life forever. I was immediately a better person because of it. Yes, perhaps it sounds corny or even naive but it was a part of me that I had been missing. Now, I was a better person and it was because of the people I had been around and the larger-than-life institution that inspired the call to become something more.
To be resilient, you must anchor your identity in something strong and bigger than yourself so that when the storms of crisis arise, you stand firmly in your place. You are anchored and no force can move you. It’s an incredibly satisfying feeling. Okamoto (2020) explains that resilience is placed-based. I can think of no better place to anchor your identity than as an Aggie at Texas A&M.
In Aggieland, there’s a spirit can ne’er be told. Just being there you can feel it. The spirit permeates the entire environment.
Resilience Lesson #2: Resilience is place-based.
Question: Where is a location you can go that strengthens your spirit?
-- This blog post is one chapter in a book titled I Bleed Maroon by Andrew Christjoy that is being finalized and seeks publication.
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