Texas A&M University -- College Station
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Psychology
Minor: Journalism
Student Self Identifies as: Indian Pansexual Female
Summary
I’m part of a women’s club called Aggie Golden Arrows and I’m part of the Student Government Diversity Commission.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Indian
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
High School Experience: Public high school in Lewisville, TX with a graduating class of about 900 students. There was a culture of going to college.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Psychology
Minor: Journalism
Extracurricular Activities: I’m part of a women’s club called Aggie Golden Arrows and I’m part of the Student Government Diversity Commission.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
For the diversity commissions, we deal with promoting diversity and making people feel included in different ways based on how you express yourself. That was important for me to want to be part of. A&M is known as a predominantly White university, and it’s hard to find your voice sometimes if you don’t identify with that. It’s important to be doing something that is inclusive to everyone. The women’s organization is for me to meet people that think like me. It promotes diversity, which was a big reason I wanted to join.
Are Texas A&M’s extracurriculars competitive to get into?
Some of them are. There’s are things called FLOs and SLOs, which are freshman and sophomore leadership organizations. FLOs are known to be very competitive to get into. A lot of people interview for them, and it’s a very selective process. My friends and I have interviewed for the SLOs and didn’t get in any of them.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Psychology 107 is the first class you have to take to be able to take other psychology classes. From there, you don’t need any prerequisites to take them. There’s another lab-based statistical research you have to take.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or poorly?
It’s really nice that we have a lot of flexibility in our schedules. You can pick a line you want to focus on. I’m working toward my diversity certificate so I’ll take certain classes and then I’ll get the certificate from the department. The certificates fall within the current track of your major so you don’t have to take classes outside of the major. You have a lot of flexibility when doing your minors too. It’s not hard to maintain that. I have friends in the Biomedical Science Degree and they have zero flexibility. They have one elective they can do their senior year, but aside from that, their schedules are planned for them with classes they need to take every semester.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s more collaborative. I’m in a human sexuality class and psychology of women class taught by the same professor. Everyone has a big conversation with each other and it’s interesting. I’d say it’s not competitive at all.
How accessible are your professors?
I haven’t gone to anyone’s office hours yet, but they are accessible. They’ll work with you and if there isn’t a time in their schedule that works with you they’ll give you their phone number sometimes and you can call or email them. they want you to come to their office hours because it shows you want to do well. You’ll usually reach out to your TA first before going to the professor.
Why did you pick your major? Are you happy with your choice?
When I first came in as a freshman I was a Genetics major because I wanted to do genetic counseling, but I realized I didn’t enjoy the degree plan because it was four years of chemistry and I didn’t want to do that. There’s a component of genetic counseling that deals with psychology and counseling. I still had an interest in that so I decided it would be a better option to switch into psychology and focus on counseling.
Reasons to Attend
1) There’s a lot of options with degrees, minors, and certificate options.
2) We have a lot of school spirit and traditions. We honor Aggies that have passed away every year through Muster.
3) We have a lot of organizations so you’re bound to find something you like and find people you vibe with.
4) The Aggie network is very strong.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you’re not comfortable going to a big school.
2) If you’re concerned with religion, A&M has a lot of Christian based organizations.
3) We have a small minority population. [The undergraduate population is about 60% White, 3% Black, 24% Hispanic, and 8% Asian.]
Around Campus
Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: On-campus apartments with two roommates
Sophomore: Off-campus apartment
How was transitioning from Dallas to College Station, TX?
It wasn’t that bad of a transition for me. I feel like I’m pretty independent.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
We have those emergency blue lights set up around campus you can use to call. We have the core cadets here, so if you’re ever by yourself on campus, you can look on the back of your student ID and find the number to call them. They’ll send someone to come and walk with you if you feel unsafe. You’ll see campus police biking around sometimes.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I’ll usually go to Northgate. There are usually different clubs and social icons. There’s a lot of stuff. If you’re 18, you can get into most of the clubs, but you have to be 21 to get into the bars. They have a club called Shiner Park, which is more country themed. I also like going to frat and sorority parties sometimes which are off-campus. If I’m not doing that, I’m either at home or at my place watching movies with a friend. Sometimes the frats do rent [the clubs out], but you usually go because the club is just there and you pay a cover fee if you’re under 21.
What is the impact of Greek life on nightlife?
I know a lot of people that have connections to the fraternities and sororities, or were in them or still are. Most of the frat parties I go to are minority frat parties, like Asian frat parties. I’ve noticed when I do go to frat parties I feel like there are no other Indians or Asians. Everyone is White and they all know each other. It’s not that weird, but I just try not to think about it. I’m more comfortable at minority frat parties. The White fraternities have bigger houses and a lot more resources.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
I’m pretty happy overall. I enjoy the nightlife, but for somebody that doesn’t enjoy going out doesn’t find much to do on the weekends. She’ll usually go home, but there are things to do like going out to eat, bowling, or laser tag. We just got something called Aggieland Safari. You drive through and see different animals. Overall, I feel like College Station is pretty good with the activities we have.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
I met one friend in Chemistry 101. She sat next to me and we started talking. I met another close friend through my first friend. Considering we’re one of the biggest universities in the U.S., it’s weird how people just know each other through different situations. All of my roommates know each other from high school, so I have that connection. I have other friends from clubs I’ve been in. Last year I was in an Asian-American leadership group where I met a lot of people I hang out with on the weekends. I like meeting people through friends. It’s easier to interact with people that way. I’ll meet people with my friends at football games or in class. When I go out on the weekends it’s easy to meet people too.
How would you describe the overall social scene at Texas A&M?
It’s small compared to how many people are at A&M. The social scene is pretty small, but it’s big enough to cover what we have. Northgate is usually packed on the weekends. When you want to go out at night there’s Century Square, which is a cute boutique restaurant area. It’s not usually too full on the weekends. Then there are frat parties. The circle for that is small but big enough to cover the whole scene.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
It’s not very often that you’ll see that. You’ll occasionally see minorities included in the White frats. With minority fraternities and sororities, you’ll occasionally see White people included in them. I’d say there’s definitely more mixing of different sexual orientations and stuff through specific programs and organizations that deal with that. Socially I can’t really tell. There’s also a gay bar in downtown Bryan. [The undergraduate population is about 60% White, 3% Black, 24% Hispanic, and 8% Asian.]
How do you like the size of Texas A&M in terms of undergraduate enrollment? How was transitioning to a school with [about 54,000] students?
It’s very big and there’s a lot of people, but, because of that, it isn’t hard to find people you have connections with. Coming in, I thought it would be really intimidating knowing there’s a lot of people, but it isn’t that hard to meet people. There are classes here with 300 people, but you’ll also have classes with 12 people. You get the individual time with the professors in some classes. Overall, I’m happy and you can’t tell the university is super big.
Careers
Have you learned any computer languages or software that will be helpful to you professionally?
In my Journalism class, we learned how to use Final Cut Pro.