Whether they’re a veteran of the armed services, a student who works full time, enrolled part-time or someone who has been out of school for years, non-traditional students hold a unique place on campus.
A non-traditional student is typically defined as a student who is 25 years or older in the process of completing their degree. Texas A&M University is home to 68,625 students, is the largest university in Texas and is the third largest in the country, according to Texas A&M Today. 7,000 of its 68,625 students are non-traditional students.
Jessica Garcia, a 34-year-old readmission student is a sports management senior preparing to graduate in May.
“I always wanted to be an Aggie, my father went here, Class of ‘72,” Garcia said. “When I came here, life got in the way. I had some hiccups along the way, but I wasn’t afraid to go against the traditional or social expectations and had the courage to return to school [at A&M] on merits on completing the degree at my dream school.
Garcia graduated high school in 2002 and began her undergraduate studies at Houston Community College. In 2005, Garcia moved to Bryan to transfer to A&M, which she attended from 2007-2010. However, Garcia said she had to stop her studies to return home for family, and while doing that she attended pastry school hoping to fulfill a career in the culinary arts in 2011. She said she remained drawn to Aggieland and came back to live in B-CS in 2015.
“I watched all my sisters get degrees before me, being the oldest,” Garcia said. “Though those were proud moments, it definitely made me feel a little defeated, and motivated me to come back.”
Garcia attended Blinn College before being readmitted to A&M in 2017. Now, as she nears the end of her degree, Garcia is part of the Houston Astros community outreach program, sports management society and Cupcakes for a Cause.
“It was definitely one of the most intimidating things that I’ve ever done, but I knew I had to be selfish,” Garcia said. “When you came back, you’re 10 years older than everyone, and everyone that you have known has graduated and moved on with their lives. It definitely has a sense of loneliness, but you have to push through.”
Tim Tran, a computer engineering senior, is 25 years old and still trying to figure out life as he’s about to graduate. Tran has spent the last six years at Texas A&M University.
“Coming into college, I had a goal,” Tran said. “I had that goal and that was to finish, especially for my mother with everything that she had endure in coming to America.”
Tran’s mother traveled to America from Vietnam in 1989 and moved to Virginia as a TSA boarding agent. She met Tim’s father passing through the airport and moved to Texas in 1992.
“I am Vietnamese, a first generation Aggie and the first in my family to attend college,” Tran said.
Ryan Campbell is a 25-year-old sports management junior who worked as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for six years before changing his career path.
“I was married young and I had to think about my family down the road, with the benefits involved of having kids,” Campbell said. “It really just didn’t add up with what I wanted to do with my life.”
Campbell began attending Blinn College in 2010 and aspired to join the fire science program before transferring his credits to A&M. Campbell said his plans changed and he became an emergency medical technician (EMT) in 2013. He then worked routes in Robertson County as a paramedic from 2014 to 2017, while going to school part time at Blinn. After finishing his program at Blinn in the fall of 2017, Campbell said he was tired of the rigorous life of medical field, which led him to the sports management program at Texas A&M.
“I’ve always had a passion for sports, especially growing up in Texas in the 90’s, [when] the guy was Nolan Ryan,” Campbell said. “I was named after him, I fell in love with the game of baseball growing up and I wanted to go back to school that was interesting to me and that became sports management.”
Campbell is part of the sports management society, works for the Kyle Field operations team and helps umpire Little League games in the Bryan-College Station area in his free time. He looks to graduate in 2019.
“Being a paramedic taught me a lot about the real world experience, and I see my friends at 25, 26 years old and they’re making decent money living in big houses, and here I am taking money for loans,” Campbell said. “It’s definitely tough, but has made me grateful as i look to finish my degree.”