After five years on campus, I finally graduate this week. To put it simply, it’s bittersweet. Leaving Texas A&M for the “real world” is hard. For me and many of the thousands of other graduating seniors, Texas A&M is where we learned the lessons that shaped our lives — it’s our home.
Texas A&M, though, didn’t work its way into our hearts through its buildings, its premier research or its top-notch athletics. This university is great because of the people — because of the Aggies.
Often times, two Aggies standing next to each other will not have had the chance to meet, but they aren’t quite strangers. We spent hours together standing in Kyle Field or in Academic Plaza on the first Tuesday of each month. We spent days staring at computers in the MEEN lab or in the SCC. We each have said “Howdy” or “Here” at the appropriate times. We are a family, because we participate together and care for one another.
Graduation feels like a separation from Texas A&M, but rest assured, it isn’t. The best parts of this university — the Aggies — are everywhere. Whether you move to Beaumont, Bakersfield or Beijing, Aggies will be there. I am in the Class of 2015, and so many of my fellow classmates are already working across the country and across the world. Last April 22, the day after Aggie Muster, my newsfeed was filled with pictures and posts of Aggies gathering in cities I had never heard of. Some were old, some were fresh out of college and some were still being indoctrinated into our family. Aggies gather, not only on April 21, but often and everywhere.
So graduating seniors, when you leave Aggieland and move away, find your fellow Aggies. Get connected to your local A&M Club through aggienetwork.com/clubs. Stay involved with this family and participate in the best part of this university: the Aggies.
Josiah Bezet is a mechanical engineering senior and Muster Committee chair.