I'm gonna go ahead and admit that working for the same university that you attended tarnishes some of that appeal. As Cindy says, "we see how the sausage is made" and sometimes, y'all, it ain't pretty. But let's start from the beginning... Twenty years ago I was an excited freshman counting down the days until I would move 90 miles south to College Station to spend the next four years living that college life that I totally glamorized via important television shows like SBTB: The College Years and 90210. Twenty years later I'm still here... and living a life so much better than any Netflix original could portray. And it all started at a little place that Aggies hold so dear...Fish Camp...
For you non-Aggies, Fish Camp is an extended orientation program that serves to ease the transition into college. You can read all about it here, but in non-specific/student affairsy terms... Fish Camp was and is a place for college kids to make friends and have fun as they start their college career.
I mean... look how much fun I had...
A few things about this picture: it's in a silver photo album - you know the one. I took careful time to color a piece of paper and then write captions - this is basically Instagram of 1997. I should sue them. I am eating SPAM as a freshman because I got chosen to be in a skit. This would now be called hazing and people would be in major trouble. Alas, this was 1997 and I thought it.was.awesome. (Well, not the SPAM, just the experience).
My love for Aggieland was set in stone the morning my parents dropped me off at Olsen Field and a guy dressed in a tutu, chucks and wife beater (again, 1997...now this is called a tank top) JUMPED on Betsy (my mom's minivan). I was allllll....
In that moment I KNEW that I wanted to be whatever he was and I was... three different times I returned to Lakeview/Fish Camp as a counselor and met some of the greatest people and got to talk about the greatest university and made the greatest memories. I mean, we love it so much that we PAY to do this y'all. Crazy? Maybe. But to a bunch of 19-21 year olds this is totally worth the time and investment. My last year at A&M I applied and was selected to be a co-chair...
There were six sessions of Fish Camp (now 7), each with 6 (now 7) colors of camp. My partner and I were the leaders of the purple camp for Session C. Also, I missed the memo on wearing khaki pants.
We hopped on our school busses, headed to Lakeview and welcomed 150 freshmen to Aggieland.
By the end of those four days we were so tired... because we had really been working for those four days for almost 10 months. Nothing quite like the feeling of finishing something you poured so much of yourself in. As I left Copeland (the main building at the camp site) for the last time I had not one single regret. I wasn't sure if I'd ever return and got back on our van filled with bittersweet feelings.
And then you know what happened? Three years later, they named a camp after me! Each of the 36 (now 42) camps is named after a person that has had a significant impact on the Texas A&M community. Y'all. I was TWENTY-FIVE... how in the world had I had an impact that deserved such recognition?
Can I just tell you that you will never feel crazier than seeing people wearing shirts with your name on them. Or SCREAMING weird yells about your name. Surreal doesn't even describe it...and not in this weird Kardashian way, but in a way that made me feel unworthy of the honor.
Namesakes get the chance to impart some wisdom on the freshmen and hang out at Lakeview to soak it all in and be part of the next generation of koolaid drinkers.
And sometimes we have a little fun...
At that point I had returned to Fish Camp every year since 1997 and I would go back two more times before kids entered the picture and it just wasn't that easy for me to serve as a support advisor. In that time I've continued to work for A&M, met some amazing Aggies and mostly always loved my job. But, I can't deny that I've been frustrated at the politics, disappointed in administrators, and simply felt like we are just missing.... something. You know, I see how the sausage is made.
But then something CRAZY happened.... they named ANOTHER camp after me.... and y'all...
I drank the koolaid allllll over again.
Camp King was the perfect way to start my 20th year in Aggieland... so stay tuned...
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