Mrs. Jasmine Kelley is a full-time remote student at TAMUT. In addition, she is taking classes at Collin College (in person) in Frisco, TX. She is goal-oriented and has mastered the art of juggling life’s obstacles.

Mrs. Kelley was born in San Diego, California, and moved to Texas when she was young. She spent two years on the Texarkana campus before moving to Frisco due to unforeseen financial issues. “I always knew I would go to college,” Kelley said. She dreams of receiving a bachelor’s in mass communications and pursuing a career in broadcasting. Kelley is currently on a waiting list to intern with WFAA 8. Recently, she completed an esthetician course and will continue gaining knowledge in that trade to earn an additional source of income while she finishes school.

Being a child of a sailor, her father raised her with love and structure. Many of the things he learned from the Navy bled over into his parenting. Jasmine thinks her father’s military training helped him to equip her with many skills. Mrs. Kelley’s mother continually expands her knowledge in many different areas of life. She describes her mother as eager to try new things, encouraging Jasmine to keep growing her skill set.

Jasmine is a health enthusiast, lover of skincare, and fashionista. “We are just very gym oriented, feel good oriented, we are big on health,” Jasmine said. She finds peace in gardening, an activity she has taken up with her mother. Recently, she has experienced significant loss and is learning how to adjust to life after a traumatic miscarriage. “Once you get pregnant, your whole world changes; you start thinking like a mom.” And she says that it was a “weird” adjustment, having to suddenly go back to how life was before.

However, Jasmine has turned the deeply unfortunate into something genuine. Jasmine Kelley allowed this unexpected paradigm shift to encourage and fuel her drive to focus on school and career.

Brittany Robles attends Texarkana A&M University and is not your “typical” college student. At 30 years old she decided to enroll in school in 2020 majoring in mass communications after taking time off from doing hair for 10+ years. She wanted to work again but found it difficult to obtain a job without a degree. She said jokingly “…I’m never [getting rejected for a job] again!”. Brittany highlights the challenges she faces in her personal life such as being a mother in a family of 7, working for the Texarkana Magazine, owning businesses, and being a surrogate all while going to school. When asked how she handles it all, she said “People are my passion” and gives us an inside look at how she helps change lives around her every day.

Brittany shares with us how she initially studied hair and fashion design at an art institute. even though hair was not her passion, she knew making people satisfied and confident was. This also bleeds through to her careers with her personal businesses and a job doing marketing and sales for the Texarkana Magazine as she stated “ That’s the part of the job [that] I love…once I get those relationships formed with my accounts and clients…they are able to become my friends and I love really being able to create the vision that they have for their business.”. 

Some of the most important people to Brittany are her children. One of her sons has dysgraphia and dyslexia and it makes it harder for him to learn certain things, she states that she assures him “…he is going to be so successful” no matter what circumstances. Brittany is a mother who does nothing but pour into and uplift their children!

Speaking of children, Brittany not only takes care of her own family but also other couple’s kids as well. Brittany was recently a surrogate, which she said was “a calling from God.”. She shared a heartfelt testimony about the couple she carried for and the profound impact it has had on her life, and to this day they still keep in touch with one another. Brittany’s passion for people is very touching; she’s an advocate, a nurturer, and a true friend. She will continue to change the lives of many people she comes into contact with.

Hannah Jarret, a sophomore at Texas A&M University (TAMUT), and member of Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority, was nominated as an orientation leader to attend the Emma Coleman Frost Leadership Development Institute in Kansas City this summer. “It was fun and stressful,” said Hannah. The conference was an eye-opening experience about self-reflection, work ethic, and personal growth.

Hannah is double majoring in Kinesiology and Psychology and aspires to pursue a career involving sports medicine inspired by her past physical and mental hardships she had faced as a student-athlete in high school. She is willing to push her plans to fruition by getting involved in student life, and becoming a member of the Student Government Association (SGA) serving as a sophomore senator. She is also involved in the Collective Arts Society serving as Communications officer, a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, and is on the College Activities Board. In her time with these organizations, she has strengthened her confidence and opportunities to connect with her fellow students and faculty.

As a council member of SGA with a communal message with the council, “every student’s voice deserves to be heard,” said Jarret. The self-discipline to open new doors to experience situations such as debating on brainstorms, crafting ideas, and planning event organizations to obtain skill sets that bleed into the rest of her time at TAMUT and post-graduation.

In addition to her studies, she works part-time as a lifeguard for the Texas Independent School District Aquatic Center for advanced swimmers. She is a cashier associate trainer for a home and garden store. On the line between education and her work life Hannah said, “School comes first,” emphasizing professionalism when communicating concerns to her employer about availability when asked to advise students who may be entering the workforce while making strides to obtain their degree.

Texas A&M University Texarkana (TAMUT) is growing slowly but surely every year, and each year the school gets more and more international students. One student on campus who particularly stands out is Sneha GC a sophomore who is already leaving a big impact on the school’s relations overseas. Originally from Kathmandu, Nepal, Sneha came to Texarkana because of her dream to study in the United States. She said “… I went to a agent or something, like you know who gives advice on international studies you know?” She then heard from one of her friends that the school offered international scholarships then was rewarded. Now Sneha and 25 other students from Nepal go to TAMUT, the most from any singular country.

For now Sneha’s weeks are jam packed going for a degree in computer science and cyber security, also working at the technical support office and being a resident adviser at the dorms on top of being an international student. Sneha said “…it’s kinda overwhelming at times but then talking about the benefits from this plan like the housing and the meal plan, plus the six thousand dollars it’s pretty good.” Most of her days she spends working from eight in the morning to near ten at night, but on the weekends she likes to spend time with her friends that live in the city and go to her favorite restaurant Taste of India and getting her favorite food Momo’s.

       The cultural shift coming from Kathmandu to Texarkana has been interesting for her. She said “People who wear cowboy boots and hats are quite different from people back in my country.” She has family that lives in California and during Tihar, a Hindu holiday, she goes to see them. She’s amazed by how much bigger things are here and sometimes she gets homesick but knows that her hard work will pay off.

One of Sneha’s biggest achievements since being at our school was being the student ambassador and hosting an international recruitment event for Texas A&M when she went back home to Nepal. “Dr. Davis, Dr. Brown, and the head of advising (Venus Lillis), they joined me over a zoom call and made me the representative.” She met with many students who were interested in attending and most of the students who attended the event are at the school currently. It was the first international recruitment that was student led. Sneha has only been a part of TAMUT for only a few years but is on her way in solidifying in A&M history.

An ordinary day turned into an emergency surgery. During a baseball game on April 29th, 2023, Matthew Delaney got struck by a stray bullet in the back right above his heart. The day started like any other, Delaney began his day with Waffle House ”Great place to go.”, says Delaney. 

This day in particular, Delaney wasn’t working the books in the dugout, around the 6th inning he was playing catch with Gage Mason. Delaney felt something hit his back, at that moment Gage said ”Shots fired.” Delaney fell to the ground and lost feeling in his left leg, he said “Dang that’s not a baseball, I just got shot.” The trainer came over and removed his jacket to find a hole in his chest. 

At the hospital, the doctors insert a tube in his chest to fix the collapsed lung and start surgery. People were lined up at the hospital to make sure Delaney knew that they were there for him. When asked about the overwhelming support he received, Delaney says” It was amazing, great people here, it’s why I came back.”

Delaney keeps his amazing heart and mindset at the front of his physical therapy, he says “Why get upset at something you can’t control.” He continues to fight through every step of recovery, from overcoming paralysis, learning to walk, gaining strength, and now getting back mobility. Matthews’s message to the world is “No matter what happens to you, never get down on yourself, always stay positive, because that one second you’re down, you can be depressed, and it will keep you down for a very long time.”

This recent Saturday on April, 22nd on Showtime pay-per-view, two of the best lightweight boxers in the world in the world went toe to toe to decide who truly was the best. Gervonta “Tank” Davis and “King” Ryan Garcia both had flawless records going into this anticipated fight and after blazing 7-Rounds, Davis was the one who came out on top with a wicked body blow. Garcia had the advantage in the first round and was looking good until the second where he suffered a hard knockdown with a left hook. He then eased up and tried to gain his momentum back but couldn’t. After the first round all judges scored in favor of Davis until the final blow was against Garcia until he could not make the count of 10. Despite being a nontitle pay-per-view had over 1.2 million buys one of the largest for this year.

Davis is now the second ranked Lightweight boxer in the world only following the Ukrainian former world champion Vasyl Lomachenko and has a record equal only to the current champion Devin Haney. Lomachenko and Haney will have a world title match on May 20th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It’s expected that Davis will challenge the winner of this match which could take place this year.

On December 5th there will be two Christmas events held in Texarkana. The KCS Holiday Express Train (KCS) and The Texarkana Christmas Parade (TCP). If interested in attending both events the time to plan is now. With Thanksgiving out the way the official countdown until Christmas has started.

  The KCS started in 2001 and has been coming to Texarkana for over 19 years. This will be the first time the train has run since the pandemic in 2020. Each year the train stops in 5 to 6 states and over 20 communities. With Ashdown, AR being the closes stop to Texarkana. Guests will have to be shuttled from Texas High Stadium to the train’s location. The event is from 5:30pm – 8:30pm. “I’m so excited to go to the KCS Train this year to meet Santa.” Said 7 year old Ashley Holliverse. The front of the train resembles Thomas The Train and is equipped with lights and Christmas decor.

The TCP is always held on the first Monday in December each year. Citizens will experience Live Camels, Custom Floats, High Schools Bands and more. A winner is chosen for the most creative float. The route will start at Broad Street at 7pm and will end at Stateline Avenue. There will also be bars and restaurants open downtown with more live entertainment.

Each year the KCS looks for volunteers within the communities to come out and help. For more information about this event check out kcsouthern.com. To become a sponsor for the TCP forms can be found on mainstreettexarkana.org.