The smell of freshly made home cooked food, the sweet sound of family members arguing over politics and day to day life, football playing in the background as all chaos ensues in the household. This is the Thanksgiving most of us have come to know and love year in and year out, with every one having a slightly different spin and tradition than other families. But for some students at Texas A&M University Texarkana (TAMUT), the convenience of a trip home isn’t always so easy or practical.

Most international students see themselves spending their thanksgivings in the Bringle Lake Village dorms on campus. Either distance, cost, or both are the cause for them not departing for their families back home. Diego Saldana, an international student from Coahuila, Mexico is one of the many that stayed over the break.

“The Situation I had with the food was that I had to go and buy what I needed for 3 days.” commented Saldana. To some of us, this would be a major inconvenience on a holiday where you show up expecting everything to be already laid out and ready to eat, but not for Diego. “I liked the experience, because I had to cook things for myself, and I could eat what I wanted, but it does get a bit complicated because there is only one kitchen in the dorms, and many residents wanted to cook at the same time,” said Saldana.

Thanksgiving, as the name suggests, is a time to give thanks and for families to gather and catch up with one another in their day to day lives. With the mass exodus of students with a reasonable drive from the dorms, this leaves the international students having to pool themselves together and create as much of a “family” atmosphere as they can. Saldana says “In the daily living it is very different than when all the students are here. The university is empty and there are very few people.” He did say that he and a few of the other students did in fact get together however, “I was lucky that several of my friends stayed and I was able to hang out with more people. If I had been alone, I would have had a bad time since there is nothing to do.”

The experience is not a bad one as described by Saldana, it is just different compared to what we know as a ‘normal’ Thanksgiving. At the end of the day though, the important thing is that even though you throw together a bunch of international students, from several different countries, ethnicities and beliefs, they still find ways to come together and give thanks, the same way you would with your family at the dinner table.

Parking is usually an after thought on the minds of most college students living at dorms across the United States. However here at Texas A&M University Texarkana(TAMUT), it has started to become a problem as the university continues to grow. Some students have voiced their opinions about the matter, and hope for resolve in the near future.

“I believe there is more than enough space here to add more parking,” commented freshman baseball player Matthew Delaney when asked on the matter. “I think when you really come down to it, it’s not the end of the world to walk a few more steps to the front door, but when I am paying for parking, I would like to be guaranteed a spot in the paved parking lot, rather than have to park in a dirt field.” Delaney’s remarks have been reciprocated by other students over the years, but this year more than any, it has seemed to be a real problem.

The biggest problem for Bringle Lake Village(BLV) residents comes during sporting events. “Every time there is a soccer game or Volleyball game here, and I get back from practice, I end up parking halfway down the dirt field behind the soccer field because there is nowhere else to park,” Comments freshman Alec Hirneise. Hirneise, who is also a baseball player at the school, felt a similar sentiment to Delaney, that it is not the end of the world for students, but it is an inconvenience. “It’s not just the lack of parking spots either, it’s the lack of care for our vehicles in the parking lots we have now,” said Hirneise, referring to dinks and fender benders that happen on a weekly basis.

Cross Country runner Nathan Rubio also had comments to make on the safety of vehicles in the existing parking lots. “The cameras we have don’t catch the accidents that happen,” Rubio said. He and Hirneise have both had minor damage done to their cars and have gotten no use from the video cameras on who might have caused the damage. Hopefully the University has plans to fix the parking situation for the students in the near future.

If successful advice and life experiences of people in your field of interest are an interest to you, you should attend a Colloquium .Dr. Craig Nakashian, is the organizer behind the Colloquiums here at Texas A&M University Texarkana (TAMUT), and never fails to have a guest speaker present,and ready to educate the students of the University. Dr. Nakashian has three Colloquiums left for the fall semester.

The next colloquium coming up on campus will be on November 1st, when Dr. Trisha Ray will be the presenter. Dr. Ray’s expertise is in educational leadership, and she will be speaking on ‘preparing for a career as a high achieving educator’. Her main goal is to help those who want to go into education get the most out of it and be as effective as possible. The main take away people should get from this colloquium is how to get the most out of being an educator while also maintaining their desire to teach.

Set to follow Dr. Ray on November 10th, will be Dr. Corrine Hinton, Associate professor of english at TAMUT. Dr. Hinton will touch on the subject of the rhetoric and communication around military veterans and military caregivers. Hintons Colloquium will tie in with Veterans Day and all will be opened to join the event, as with all the Colloquiums held at TAMUT. Hinton will also probably touch on her work with the Dole foundation, which is a nationwide support group for the aforementioned demographic.

The Final Colloquium of the Fall Semester will come on December 7th, when Dr. Ben Neuman, Professor of Biology and Chief Virologist of the Global Health Research Complex, closes with his annual virus lecture. Dr. Neuman has given his annual lecture on viruses dating back to December of 2018, 2 years before the infamous coronavirus was even a thought. It is likely Dr.Neuman will use Covid 19 as his main focal point again this year, and inform those in attendance on new variants and where we stand with the CDC and their guidelines in 2022.

Dr.Nakashian sets a goal to have around 5-8 Colloquiums per semester, and will allow anyone who has an idea and wants to share it to set a time and date to present one. He normally gets university faculty and staff who volunteer for the slots available, but wants to encourage the student body of TAMUT to fill those spots as well. The goal of the Colloquiums is not only to learn from the great minds of your peers and professors, but also a time to get out of your comfort zone, and expose you to intellectual inquiry in a way you normally would not go out of your way to do.

While the Fall semester is pretty much set on the remaining colloquiums, the Spring semester is wide open with slots for the taking. Nakashian hopes for students to fill those spots, and plans to send a reminder out in mid November for people to set times and dates for presentations. Colloquiums are the setting, whether you have a doctorate or not, to own a room and present something you are an expert on to a non-hostile audience.

Amber Galvan is the Athletic Academic coordinator at Texas A&M University Texarkana (TAMUT). Galvan, who is going on year 8 at her position at the school, has seen many changes since she first arrived. She has witnessed the construction of the soccer field, the  Building for Academics and Student Services, and The Patterson Center as well as the addition of nine athletic programs. Galvan started her teaching career in Hobbs, New Mexico where she taught special education, and where she met her husband, Michael Galvan. 

Amber and Michael have been happily married for years, and have had the pleasure of working alongside each other at TAMUT and The University of the Southwest. Michael, who is the athletic director (AD) at TAMUT, was offered the job after his success at Southwest. This move opened the door for Amber to step in as Athletic Academic Coordinator, and for the idea of athletics to be a part of TAMUT. Amber and Michael, although the titles they have are important, are viewed by most students on campus as  motherly and fatherly figures. When asked about this Galvan commented, “There has to be a sense of trust, the students here on campus, those are somebody’s kids and I think you have to love on them when they need it, but also have to be able to have the tough conversations and help guide them as well.” 

As an Academic Advisor of the student athletes of TAMUT, Galvans main job is to make sure that all the student athletes are eligible to play and to make sure they stay on top of their school work throughout the year. She is busy throughout the entire school year, whether she is making schedules for students, helping with the recruiting process, dealing with transfers, or just helping with events around campus, she is always involved and doing something throughout the course of the year. She hopes that the University continues to grow and improve as it has her whole stint at the school. When asked about the addition of new programs like football, cheer, and band, Galvan jokingly commented “when that day comes, they are gonna need more than one of me.” 

The desire to keep pushing and elevating students to do well not only in school, but life after school is a big driving force that keeps Amber rooted in her job. Amber said that there is no rush for her to leave, or look for other job opportunities, because she is comfortable where she is and feels that she is doing what she is meant to be doing.