The Class of 2021 has experienced some events like no other during their four years at Texas A&M.
In addition to enduring a pandemic for a year and a half during their final year in undergrad, the Class of 2021 has experienced huge moments from A&M sports to extreme weather.
Beginning her freshman year, english senior Madi Telschow remembers the cancellation of the first days of classes due to severe weather and flooding from Hurricane Harvey.
“The storm and its flooding was devastating for so many families, including my own, but it started out my freshman year by bringing us together. Class hadn’t even started, and I was already feeling the love and support of the Aggie Family,” Telschow said. “Everyone was involved somehow, whether it was through clean-up efforts or fundraising or blood donation, everyone found a way to help.”
Nonetheless, Telschow said there have been many experiences that have shaped her experience at A&M that have made up for the slow start from the storm.
In 2018, the Class of 2021 joined in the storming of Kyle Field after the seven-overtime victory over LSU. Management senior Samantha Garcia said this game influenced her college experience beyond football through her time at A&M.
“[The LSU game] impacted my college experience as I was able to witness anything is possible in a short amount of time as long as you have a support system backing you up,” Garcia said.
Following their junior year, the Class of 2021 saw the beginning of the Black Lives Matter protests and their movement on campus. Marketing senior Carolina Jayme said she believes these protests were important because of the message they sent to the community about what the students believed in.
“Just seeing how people stood up for what they believed in, how people weren’t afraid to say what they thought was right and how people fought for the rights of everybody [was great],” Jayme said. “We stood as one, just knowing the effort was there to restore balance was great and I loved seeing all of the Aggie Network come together to dispute their opinions.”
Seeing the rare sight of snow multiple times during their college experience, public health senior K’Erika Green said being from the Bryan-College Station area, she never really saw snow.
“Seeing Aggieland as a winter land was definitely an experience I’ll never forget,” Green said. “Seeing everyone come together to help each other and enjoy the snow at the same time was such a beautiful thing.”
When COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in March 2020, the Class of 2021 finished their junior year of college online. Many students even received their Aggie Rings delivered to their front door.
With the end of their senior year, the Class of 2021 leaves with the retirement of Reveille IX and the transition to the 26th university president. The Class of 2021 will mark the second graduating class with a COVID-19 limited graduation ceremony, but the students will walk the stage at Reed Arena in the coming weeks, following in the footsteps of others in the Aggie family.