Comments on First Born Stories: the spirit of aggieland

I came across your blog as I was searching for a d...

2008-07-29T09:15:23.889-05:00

I came across your blog as I was searching for a download of "spirit of aggieland", and I have to say first, I'm sorry you feel this way about A&M, and second, I understand.

I just graduated in May (c/o '08). A&M was the only public school I applied to, and less expensive than all the private schools even after scholarships, so there I was. My ENTIRE family has graduated from A&M. My sister's in-laws work there and graduated from there, my soon to be in-law graduated and go to school there. Like you, I've always wanted to go there. However, most of my friends went to Texas, so that was fun, trying to defend the "cult-like" spirit and traditions.

When I graduated high school, my friends and I were very politically charged (toward the liberal side), and during my Fish year at tamu, I wore my John Kerry shirt every Tuesday until the election. Mostly under a jacket, but I wore it. I was so incredibly bitter during that year, until I submerged myself into my studies. I was a Zoology major, so I hung around the science geeks, most of whom shared my political and social views. It definitely helped me realize that yes, a good majority of the student body is conservative and pro-army (it is Texas/former military institution after all), but there were many students who shy'd away from the political scene, who were much more moderate. They're the ones you never see. It's a shame that the extremist views of any idea or institution are the ones that get permanently associated with them. I know it's not Muslims as a whole who our military is fighting, but that's what people see, and subsequently believe. Not every student from A&M is beer-drinking, 42 playing, corps /football loving W. Bush man, but that's what people see.

I don't agree with the war, I never have. I'm sorry that you have family over there, and that they have had to endure so much for too long. I'm sorry you ended up feeling that way about our alma mater. Things have changed, not much, but it's getting better.

I hope that one day, you'll put your ring back on, maybe not because of the Aggie spirit (to you, it takes on a different personal meaning), but for your education, and the fact that enduring those years (however painful, frustrating they may have been, has made you who you are.

OmarHope you are still checking this blog. Seems ...

2007-05-07T03:19:59.578-05:00

Omar

Hope you are still checking this blog. Seems like you and I were at A&M at the same time, if you are class of '96. I am class of '94. I was commissioned in the Navy upon graduation.

It disappoints me that you feel sufficient antipathy towards A&M to make the decision to quit wearing your ring, although I think that I can understand your state of mind. While I was at A&M (and during my career), I observed some of the jingoism and xenophobia that you discuss in your blog. I agree that it is in poor taste in wartime to glorify the destruction that is visted upon the object of a nation's foreign policy, whether the policy is sound or not.

But I also feel that you should take into account the unsophisticated view that many of our fellow Aggies have on the world and foreign policy in general - I'm afraid that I have to place myself in that category while I was at school there as well. Despite the narrow view that many Aggies have on the world and the U.S. role in it, there are still others who view the world through a more nuanced lens.

I agree with the quote that you chose from Schwarzkopf. My view is that if a situation escalates to conflict, then those in the foreign policy establishment have failed in a way.

Gig'em.

Wes

Howdy Fellow Ag,Don't let anybody else get you dow...

2007-02-06T01:06:57.603-06:00

Howdy Fellow Ag,
Don't let anybody else get you down... I understand that it is easy to be disillusioned, especially by overzealous kids who don't quite understand the big picture yet. You can't change the fact that Texas A&M helped form your mind and intellect, and I would argue that you may be a big part of the solution that brings two very different cultures together... it may take decades, even centuries, but we've each got to pull together to get it done.
gig'em my friend...

I accidentally stumbled upon your blog. Hoping for...

2007-01-25T16:38:28.760-06:00

I accidentally stumbled upon your blog.
Hoping for a little firsthand insight into our country's current involvement in Iraq, I sadly uncover a steaming pile of misguided resentment.
Turning your back on the alma mater that, put food on your table since you were a child, an education that paved the way for all you see, gave you an opportunity to follow whatever path you chose, you become as ungrateful as anyone I have ever come across. Pissing on the very hand that feeds you.
May I suggest you remove any reference to your education at Texas A&M from your resumes and transcripts, that is, if you really mean what you say.

I've got more for you, but I'll let this humble meal digest a bit...