On Saturday, March 25, our staff participated alongside 21,000 Aggies at The Big Event. The Big Event is the largest, one-day student run service project in the nation. As a student body, we came together to give back to the Bryan-College Station community through various community service project. Her Campus at Texas A&M University was assigned to complete yard work and window washing at the home of a lovely couple, Bob and Jean Foust.
Our day began bright and early, but it was nothing to complain about. The staff met on campus for the kick-off ceremony. Then, we collected our tools and made our way to Bryan for a day of giving back to members of the community.We met the residents who instructed us to pull out weeds, rake leaves, lay mulch, and wash the outside windows. We took on our tasks diligently. With each job, Mr. and Mrs. Foust never stopped offering their help. They even went as far as to offer us lunch after we were done. By the end of the day, our staff had worked diligently to offer our best service. We took part in giving back to our community the way The Big Event intends to every year. Beyond the simple benefits of service, however, we gained from meeting two members of the community that we feel left a mark on us as a group. They both opened up their home to us. They told us about their lives, their hobbies, and their family. Through The Big Event, we had the opportunity as a staff to give back to amazing people that we would not have met otherwise.
Staff member Ashley Salas believes that The Big Event is important for this very reason. She says, “We are college students, wrapped up in studying and our own lives. We saw how easy it is to plant a flower, clean windows, or paint a fence.”
Carlee Hebert, sophomore staff member, says that her favorite part of The Big Event was “seeing how happy Bob and Jean were after we finished the job.”
The Foust family left a mark on the spirit of our staff, and we hope we shared a taste of the true Aggie spirit with them both.