A video posted on Facebook last week by Texas A&M showcased just how powerful the Aggie Network is even in the midst of a global pandemic.
Tina Nguyen, Class of 2018, started a Zoom call on April 15 with three other former students which quickly grew to include Texas A&M coaches and athletes, current and former Yell Leaders, Reveille and Aggies spanning six decades.
After seeing ESPN reporter Katie Nolan start a Zoom call with the intention of bringing people on and then having them invite the most famous person they know, Nguyen said she thought it would be a cool idea to replicate to show the strength of the Aggie Network.
“I reached out to some of my close friends who were on the video with me in the beginning, and asked them what they thought about the idea and if they thought it would be successful,” Nguyen said. “We started a Zoom call, sent the link to other Aggies and once they hopped on we told them that they needed to add another Aggie in.”
When Nguyen started the Zoom call at 7 p.m., four Aggies were on. At 7:03 p.m., 10 people had already joined. By the end of the call, they had over 60 Aggies with class years spanning as many years, Nguyen said.
“It completely blows my mind that we were able to bring that many people together via Zoom,” Nguyen said.
While there were many Aggies on the call, some notable names include Class of 2008 All American softball pitcher and ESPN analyst Amanda Scarborough, Class of 1990 Major League Baseball player Charles Knoblauch, Class of 1971 Texas A&M Hall of Fame member and first African American athlete signed to an A&M scholarship Curtis Mills, and Class of 1987 Big Brother TV Contestant Cliff Hogg.
For Rob Sandoval, Class of 2017, the best part of the call was hearing all of the different Aggie stories from past decades.
“It was interesting to hear different perspectives of people that have come and gone through A&M,” Sandoval said. “To hear some of those older generations connecting with the younger generations was just really special.”
While Nguyen wasn’t sure how many Aggies would join the Zoom call, she said she was hopeful that no matter the final outcome, the video would be able to make people happy.
“The whole goal was to make people smile,” said Nguyen. “I think for people to see the Aggie Network in motion will definitely be able to do that. It was cool to be able to give back to the university that has given me so much and be able to bring people together during this quarantine.”
Along with making people smile, Sandoval said he hoped the video would show people how strong the Aggie Network is and how much Aggies care for each other.
“Aggies are willing to do anything for other Aggies and this connects everyone in a way,” Sandoval said. “It just shows you how Aggies will drop everything for each other, and I think that’s something really special about our university, and it’s one of the reasons why I love being able to call myself a Texas Aggie.”