What is there to say that hasn’t already been said about good ol’ Texas A&M? From the peaks of the Texas Avenue H-E-B to the valleys of the William D. Fitch H-E-B, Aggieland is truly a sight to behold.
If, like me, you’re looking to major in underwater basket-weaving with focuses in German polka history and left-handed puppetry, then the sky’s the limit at A&M. As it turns out, I wasn’t cut out for pleaching with the fishes, so I became an anthropology major instead. A genuine world class institution, the Department of Anthropology is full of some of the best A&M has to offer. Kind, thoughtful, intelligent people are in no short supply between the students, staff and faculty.
Throughout my college career, there isn’t a thing I haven’t put off until the last minute. Now, as I begin writing this column at 7 p.m. the night before it’s due, I look back to try and find where all the last minutes went.
Ruminating on the past or preparing for the future has always made me feel a heavy weight in the pit of my stomach and a light feeling in my head. So while I digest my own brain, I’d like to put forward my musings on the meaning of RELLIS — the random drunk girls on Northgate who gave me a burrito when I was desperately looking for a bathroom. Did I know I wanted a burrito? No. Did it help me find the bathroom any faster? Also no. But in that brief moment, amid my growing stupefaction and urge to pee, I truly felt the Aggie Spirit between those gooey layers of beans and cheese.
I’ve had a lot of good times and met a lot of great folks.
Between my struggles as a first-generation college student and being a general layabout, I haven’t had the easiest time at A&M, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. For all its flaws, College Station has become something of a second home for me, bursting out the seams with my favorite places and people.
And if you don’t like it, then I’ll leave you with words of wisdom bestowed on me by many thebatt.com comments: Highway 6 runs both ways.
For two years, The Battalion was always an outlet and a way for me to grow. Everyone here has shaped my journey and put up with my antics — no small task, I promise — and for that, I’m eternally grateful.
The Class of 2022 may be graduating into a world with millions dead from a pandemic, the threat of nuclear war in Europe and an impending stock crash, but at least we’re doing it as Aggies.
Aggieland, it’s been real, it’s been good, it’s been real good. Thank you, I’ll be here all week and not a day later.
Zachary Freeman is an anthropology senior and opinion columnist for The Battalion.