Here

My senior year in high school, I went to visit Texas A&M University and a friend who was a freshman there. I took the tour around campus and attended a couple classes with my friend. While sitting in his PoliSci class, there was a guy sitting in front of me with a maroon shirt that had the word “Here” in big bold white letters across his shoulders. As the professor droned on, I wrote a journal entry about the word Here. And it ended with a line saying that “I want to be Here” at Texas A&M that next year. 

It wasn’t until the following year midway through my own freshman year that I realized that the t-shirt that guy had been wearing was a t-shirt for Muster. It wasn’t until I attended my first Muster that I really understood what Here meant. It wasn’t until I understood what Here meant that I committed to never missing Muster and understood just how incredible Texas A&M University is. 

Tonight will be my 16th Muster and my 7th in New York. (Join me?) It is an incredible annual reminder of what I learned from family friends when I submitted my application to attend A&M all those years ago. “Texas A&M isn’t just a place you go for college. It is a network you join, a family. The admissions office isn’t looking for people who will be good students, they are looking for people who will be good Aggies while on campus and for a long after.”

It is the reason I wear my Aggie Ring every day. 

It is the reason I'll always bleed maroon. 

It is the reason I will always answer “Here.”