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about-me, memories, tamu

10 years a former student

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“It was here that our lives were forever changed, and loyalty to on another and to a cause greater than self filled our hearts.” — Phillip D Adams, Class of 1970

showing off the diploma

Ten years ago today, a dream came true. I graduated from Texas A&M University. I walked across the stage at Reed Arena. I shook hands with then-University President Robert M Gates. I ceased to be a student, and I joined the thousands of Aggie Alumni as a former student.

Thankfully, I kept a great journal back in those days (something I lament not doing now and someday hope to get back to doing) and I can go back and re-read the little details of the August 15, 2003 that I have long forgotten.

I set my alarms for 5:30 and then 5:45. I needed to be leaving the house no later than 7:00 to get to Reed Arena on time. Well, I apparently turned off my alarms at some point, because I woke up at 6:20 and had to run like a mad woman. […] Of course, I can’t find the panty hose I’d bought for the day, so I had to search for a pair that didn’t have a run in them. My hair took extra long to dry and then make-up just wasn’t going smooth. I ran out of the house at 7:10.

Clearly, some things have not changed in 10 years.

Finally, the time came. We started out of our “holding area.” (We had Journalism, Sociology, Philosophy, Music, etc. in our area.) We had to go down SEVEN flights of stairs to the floor of Reed. […] They all got a kick out of the top of my hat, “Happy Hour” when they saw it, since they were behind me and thus above me on the stairs going down.

receiving my diploma photo by parents

Yes, yes I did put a glittery “Happy Hour” across the top of my cap… I wasn’t a big drinker back then, so maybe my amusement and use of that phrase was a strange foreshadowing of my later bartending. Or maybe I’m reaching with that…

We did give our parents a standing ovation, at which point I almost bawled. I am so lucky to have the most amazing parents in the world. I could never thank them enough for all that they do.

Again, some things never, ever change. And I am SO thankful for that.

with mom and dad

My turn came and…I honestly remember very little. LOL! I was so busy focusing on not tripping, trying to hear how much applause I got, making sure I shook President Gates’ hand and took the tube correctly, and making sure I was smiling for the camera. My brain was on overload. Suddenly the diploma is in my hand, I’m walking across the stage to shake hands with the Dean of Liberal Arts and then two guys from the Association of Former Students. I walked off the stage, shook hands with Dr. Walraven, Dean of Journalism, and then practically ran back to my chair.

getting my diploma

The important thing here was that I didn’t trip. Thank God. And I suppose I should add that my diploma really was inside the tube I was handed. That was pretty important as well.

We sang the Spirit of Aggieland, and then that was it! It was over! I was all graduated.

I didn’t have a job when I graduated. I was on a serious burn-out from having been taking classes almost non-stop for over a year. I had a degree, but no where to use it at that time. It was a little scary! I stepped off into the great big world with only the safety nets of a degree and amazing parents…

Ten years later, I look back and marvel a bit at all that’s happened in the last decade. I did use my degree for over a year at a small-town Texas newspaper. I still consider myself using it when blogging and doing any design work. I use it every day in ways I couldn’t begin explain.

metexasflag03

If I could give all graduating seniors from high school one piece of advice it would be to go to college. Even if you don’t know what you want to do or be. Go. Embrace it. Embrace both the in-class education as well as the life-in-general education you’ll receive. Because in four (five or six or however many) years you attend college, you’ll grow and change as much as you did from Kindergarten to 12th grade. College has a lasting effect well past the pomp and circumstance of graduation… well past the GPA you end up having.

In the 10 years since I graduated, I also got married and moved two states away from my family. I’ve traveled to places I never thought I’d travel. I’ve embraced my roll as a former student of Texas A&M University as an active member of my local A&M Club. I’ve made mistakes. I’ve had amazing successes. And all of them… ALL of them… were in some way an extension of what I learned during my time in college… even if the only thing tying it all together is the confidence and accomplishment I got from earning my degree.

I am the proudest member of the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of 2003… and today I celebrate that fact more than ever.

class-seal

tamu

Here

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musterprogram Once an Aggie, Always an Aggie…

I love my Alma Mater, Texas A&M University. Anyone who knows even a little bit about TAMU knows its steeped in tradition. Of our many traditions — The 12th Man, Midnight Yell, Big Event, Aggie Ring, Replant, Howdy, Gig’em, Reveille, Bonfire, Fish Camp, etc. — my favorite traditions are Silver Taps and Muster. Mostly Muster to be completely honest.

Silver Taps and Muster both honor Aggies who have passed away.

From the Traditions Council website, “By far, one of Texas A&M’s most honored traditions is Silver Taps. Silver Taps is held for a graduate or undergraduate student who passes away while enrolled at A&M. This final tribute is held the first Tuesday of the month following the students’ passing.

The first Silver Taps was held in 1898 and honored Lawrence Sullivan Ross, the former governor of Texas and president of A&M College. Silver Taps is currently held in Academic Plaza. On the day of Silver Taps, a small card with the deceased students name, class, major, and date of birth is placed at the base of the Academic Plaza flagpole, and the Silver Taps Memorial located behind the flagpole. Around 10:15 that night, the lights are extinguished and hymns chime from Albritton Tower. Students silently gather at the statue of Lawrence Sullivan Ross. At 10:30pm, the Ross Volunteer Firing Squad marches into the plaza and fires a twenty-one gun salute. Buglers then play a special rendition of Silver Taps, by Colonel Richard Dunn, three times from the dome of the Academic Building: once to the north, south, and west. It is not played to the east because it is said that the sun will never rise on that Aggies life again. After the buglers play, the students leave from Academic Plaza in complete silence. Silver Taps is a sacred tradition that Aggies treasure dearly.”

Due to living an hour away from campus while a student at A&M, I only was able to attend one Silver Taps. However, that one time moved me deeply, and marked as one of my most powerful nights as a student.

MusterMuster, however, Muster has become a huge part of my life. As a student, it was the one tradition I made sure I attended every year. And its the one tradition I have not missed in over ten years.

Its the one tradition I’ve helped keep alive in Nashville for the last six years as Muster Chair for the Middle Tennessee Texas A&M Club.

We call ourselves the Aggie Family, and just as you mourn when a family member passes away in your close family, we, too, mourn our members. That mourning for each year culminates on April 21st when we celebrate Muster.

Softly call the Muster, let comrade answer, “Here”

When we gather for Muster, we take time to visit with fellow Aggies in the area. We remember our days in Aggieland. We make new friends. We take time to visit with old friends.

Then we begin the Muster program, at which time we call the names of Aggies who have passed in the last year from our area, answering with “Here” — marking them present in our hearts and minds.

If seeing the candles lit in their memory doesn’t move you, listening to Silver Taps will. Just last night, as it played and we all stood in silence in honor of those Aggie passed, I felt tears well up in my eyes. It’s a powerful moment. You feel all their Spirits with you. You feel the Spirit of Aggieland.

Perhaps the most humbling thing is knowing that some day… some day your name will be on that roll call. And Aggies — some you know in person, some you never met — will call your name and answer for you with a “Here.”

Muster means a LOT to me, and I think that is why I get overwhelmed every year as I plan it. Its why I fuss and rant to my parents and my husband, when I feel like I am running into roadblocks. I want the night to be perfect. I want people to attend and feel the power of that night along with me. I get burned out, throwing my heart and soul into the event.

And then… then the night happens. I am moved all over again. I am rejuvenated. And I leave already planning the next one in my mind. Already excited to do it all over again.

In Memoriam

We stood a little taller,
and a little prouder then

When we heard the call of Muster
and the Roll Call just begin.

We stood there all together
and wiped away the tears

When our names were called out softly
and answered with a “Here!”

… and so we’ve joined together
with our brothers of the past

To make our final resting place
at Aggieland our last.

We take a toast to our brotherhood
wherever they may roam,

For us the trek is over
Aggieland we’re coming home.

by Lt. Col. David Harrigan ‘68