Two weekends ago, my mother, Lisa Garcia, decided to come visit me for the Aggie football game against South Carolina. She is a graduate of the Texas A&M class of 1995. As we were walking through campus, she made some notable comments about how things look so different, but still feel the same. These comments are what brought up a really interesting conversation we had over Thanksgiving break that has made me feel more connected to her than ever.
To start off, my mom is the foundation of my spirit, being, and belief. She is my biggest supporter, best friend, and ultimate driving factor for everything I do in life. She is the main reason I wanted to attend Texas A&M University in the first place. Now that I am a current freshman on campus, it is interesting to really hear her perspective on her time here in College Station. Although we both walked the same campus, I know it is not the same, as we have different perspectives of campus and Aggieland as a whole. Through this conversation, I wanted to immerse myself in her perspective of Texas A&M to truly understand how the Aggie Spirit carries across generations.
So, on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I sat with her in the living room to have a conversation before fully investing into our Thanksgiving break. Firstly, of course, we had to joke about how serious this interview felt as I set up my phone recorder and had her sit across from me on the couch. She cracked open her fresh Diet Coke (Diet Coke should really sponsor her) as we began to reminisce on the trials and tribulations of my first semester in senior year. The immense stress I felt awaiting the letter from Texas A&M was the core feeling in our house (as I made it everyone’s problem until I got accepted). My mom details how she understood the stress I was under because Texas A&M was a big deal to her as well, although she wouldn’t admit it.
“Oh I was excited…” Garcia stated when asked how she felt about my decision to attend Texas A&M, “I didn’t want to be pressure-y, but I was excited that you decided to do A&M because I knew you would love it.”
This is what started our conversation on our different but similar experiences at Texas A&M. From the beginning, when I first walked campus on my tour, I knew I wanted to go there, I could just see myself calling that place home. When we compared these first experiences, Garcia went into detail about what solidified her decision to attend Texas A&M back then.
“My junior year in high school, I went to a (football) game with a friend of mine, whose brother was in the corps,” Garcia said. “I was wholeheartedly hooked after going to the game and seeing all the corps stuff… it just seemed so exclusive and respectful and just all about that school (Texas A&M).”
After jumping back into the past, we time-traveled back to a few weekends ago when we both attended Midnight Yell together, the night before the South Carolina football game.
“Midnight Yell was fun,” Garcia said. “Where we stood was different (than back then), but the stadium is different. The stuff that the Yell Leaders say is still pretty much the same.”
This furthered the conversation to discuss what at Texas A&M has remained the same, and what has changed with the times. I wanted to know if some of these main traditions felt familiar to her, or if they were entirely foreign.
“It’s probably changed a little bit – of course, I’m older, so my perspective of it is a little different – but you feel it from the love of the fans for the school,” Garcia highlights. “But, yes, I do think things have changed… It’s modernized. Like at the game, we never had a DJ. We didn’t have that music in the background; it was always just the Aggie Band.”
Garcia further notes some differences regarding the look of the campus itself, which I found interesting, considering every building, arguably, looks the same. She specifically noted the modernization and development of the Memorial Student Center, or as it is called here on campus – the MSC.
“Well, the MSC’s been remodeled since I was there. It looks beautiful now. It was so ancient when I was there,” Garcia says. “There’s definitely a lot more buildings. West Campus is completely developed compared to what it was; it was mainly a parking lot.”
However, one of the key components of Texas A&M is tradition. The long-standing values and events that have been performed and encouraged on campus since before even my mom was there. We couldn’t have a real talk about Texas A&M without discussing what truly has remained the same for both of us.
“Part of that (tradition) to me was always that military tradition that came with A&M,” Garcia starts. “Just like they talk about the band and the corps, they are the spirit of Aggieland. They still all do the same things. So the rest of the school, even though there are changes with the students and the way that they see things, they still have that Corps of Cadets that inspires the rest of everybody to respect what our traditions are.”
Ending our conversation, I wanted to know from her perspective how the Aggie Spirit has been with her since she was on campus. Is this Aggie Spirit a hoax? Or is it truly a generational lingering of love, support, and tradition that stays with you forever? Clearly, my mom knows exactly how valuable being an Aggie is.
“I think it carries deep,” Garcia stated. “It’s very generational, and it passes from family to family. The Aggie network is solid. I have tons of friends that are Aggies and their kids that are Aggies. You always know you can go to another Aggie if you are seeking out work [or] if you have something that you’re trying to connect with. It’s a solid network.”
In the end, this conversation provided me with a well-rounded insight into my university and a deeper connection with my mom. As Mrs. Lisa Garcia said to end our conversation that sunny Sunday in November,
“[you] gotta be part of the cult. [Because] y’know what? It’s our cult.”