In Aggieland, there’s a spirit can ne’er be told. But it can be passed down.
At the end of high school, students make one of the biggest decisions of their life –where to attend college. For many current students and alumni of Texas A&M, this decision required no second thought, especially for those who grew up immersed in the Aggie culture. Growing up in an Aggie family and learning about the Aggie spirit from a young age greatly influences many prospective students to eventually attend A&M and carry on their family’s tradition.
Environmental architecture junior Addison Dunham, a third-generation Aggie, said coming to College Station for football games was a highlight of her childhood. 
“I grew up tailgating on campus ever since I was a toddler,” Dunham said. “We would come for every home game, and I have the fondest memories of spending days in College Station. I would always try to catch the bus, watch the band and see Reveille.”
Growing up around Aggies ultimately influenced her decision to come to A&M. Dunham said the university was all she ever knew.
“I didn’t have any other options,” Dunham said. “I didn’t apply anywhere else and I didn’t want to go anywhere else. This is what I’ve always wanted. It’s always been my goal to attend A&M and I was lucky enough to achieve it really easily.”
A&M is a significant part of her family’s identity, Dunham said.
“[A&M] has always been so important to my parents – they’re the classic ‘got engaged under the Century Tree’ kind of couple,” Dunham said. “They’ve always been very red ass, and for them, watching me and my sister come here and continue their tradition has been a great source of pride for them.”
Lacey Hannis-Miller, Class of 2010, is a fourth-generation Aggie. Hannis-Miller said the first Aggie in her family was her great-great-grandfather, Owen Thomas Anderson, or O.T., who went to A&M and graduated around 1896.
“My great grandfather then went to Baylor – they wanted to make a preacher out of him,” Hannis-Miller said. “So then my grandfather graduated high school in 1942 and went to A&M. However, he was drafted for World War II, so he never finished school. I’m assuming he was drafted either his sophomore or junior year. He was in the Corps of Cadets.”
Hannis-Miller’s father, William T. or Bill Hannis, was Class of 1973. Hannis-Miller said her father wasn’t in the Corps of Cadets, which was extremely rare at the time. During his time at A&M, Hannis-Miller said her father and his friends started the first fraternity at the university, Sigma Phi Epsilon.
“I started at A&M in 2006 and graduated in 2010 from Mays Business School with a finance degree,” Hannis-Miller said. “When I attended A&M, it was a co-ed experience versus when my dad attended it was primarily all males with a few female students, primarily professors’ daughters.”
Hannis-Miller said she was legally named after A&M’s former football coach Jackie Sherrill for a few weeks. 
“After I was born, my parents couldn’t agree on a name,” Hannis-Miller said. “It was after a big A&M football game, and my dad’s friends from A&M called the hospital pretending to be him. And at the time, Jackie Sherrill was the football coach at A&M. They named me Jackie Sherrill … and then legally, that was my name. Jackie Cheryl Hannis was my legal name for maybe three weeks. It was a big practical joke, in a way gone bad, but it’s funny now.”
Business sophomore Avery Brown said Aggieland has been her second home her whole life.
“My parents have instilled the Aggie Core Values in me since I was little,” Brown said. “I think I knew the [Aggie] War Hymn from the time I was in late elementary school.”
She attended her first Muster in 2011, when her grandfather passed. But even at such a young age, Brown said she recognized the family and close bonds A&M creates.
“Being an Aggie family means being part of something greater than yourself,” Brown said. “The spirit is so palpable at big events like game days at Kyle, but is still present in a friendly “Howdy” from someone on campus. For us, Texas A&M is synonymous with family.”