This Thursday, December 12th A&M University-Texarkana will host its annual ring ceremony. The event will take place at 6 p.m. in the University Center on the 3rd floor in the Tri-State Iron & Metal Atrium.
The purpose of the ring ceremony is to acknowledge any current or former student who has completed 90 or more semester credit hours. Once they achieve the hour limit, the student would then be eligible to purchase their ring to wear.
The Texas A&M University-Texarkana ring has been a tradition for years. It serves as a reminder of a student’s achievement, memories, and accolades achieved while a student at the University. During the ring ceremony, the ring participants will be formally presented with their custom ring. Whenever the students are presented the ring and when the ring is ready to wear, the students wear the ring with the school name facing them. Then whenever the students receive their degrees at commencement, the new graduates turn the ring around, to symbolize that they are now ready to face the world.
At Texas A&M University-Texarkana, the time has come where finals has finally approached. For the past week and a half, students have been studying non-stop to prepare for their final exams. Students have been stressed and filled with anxiety, in hopes to ace their final exam. To omit this problem, Phi Lambda Chi, a fraternity at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, proposed a solution that would allow students to forget about their finals and be stress free.
Phi Lambda Chi, hosted a car smash right in front of the University campus. The brothers of the fraternity were able to get a hold of an old car that way students can unleash their inner stress on the car. The fraternity charged its users $1 for 4 hits, and $3 for 1 full minute on the car. Prices were really good for students as students kept coming in for more and kept supporting the fraternity to kill off all that unwanted stress. In the end, the event turned out to be a huge success as students were smashing the car all day with axes and sledgehammers.
Last night, on December 8, 2019, the Texas A&M University-Texarkana Student Ambassadors had their annual Christmas party along with advisor Mark Missildine and Dr. Leanne Wright. At the Christmas party, the Ambassadors had partaken in the white elephant Christmas game, ate lots of food, and just appreciated one another for all of the hard work and dedication they accomplished this year as a team. The student ambassadors also surprised their advisor, Mark Missildine, with a gift basket to show him how appreciative the group is with having him as their advisor. “It’s because of you guys that makes me love what I do,” Mark told the ambassadors as he was given his gift.
Texas A&M University -Texarkana Student Ambassadors
The purpose of the student ambassadors is that it is a leadership program designed to refine leadership skills, foster intellectual growth, as well as enhance the relationship with A&M-Texarkana. Our student ambassadors will have the opportunity to represent the university and promote A&M-Texarkana through various activities. Applications for the student ambassadors open up in the summer of 2020 for the school year 2020-2021. If you are interested and feel like this is a fit, then you should definitely apply!
On Tuesday, December 3, 2019 Greater Texarkana Young Professionals and Opportunities Inc. came together to share their Holiday cheer for Shop for Opp.
According to the Opportunities Inc. Facebook page their mission “is to provide developmental and support services which assist individuals in attaining a full life in the community.” A recent A&M Texarkana grad student, Rebekah Drennon is the Director of Development for Opportunities Inc. She has provided and organized for GTYP to adopt two families who can not afford Christmas gifts this year.
GTYP members met the families at Pecan Point at 5:30 p.m. From there the members and family will do their shopping. The cost was covered by each member bringing a suggested amount of $10-$20. Rebekah provided a list on the Facebook event page for the members to properly prepare for efficient shopping. Once the shopping was complete everyone met at Pecan Point for dinner and networking.
This event was a great example of Texarkana locals coming together to spread the Holiday cheer for the community. For more information visit the GTYP or Opportunities Inc. Facebook pages.
Last night on December 3rd, 2019 at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, the National Society of Leadership & Success hosted their Induction ceremony in Eagle Hall. The purpose of this ceremony is to celebrate in to letting their peers, parents, and the public share in the story of each member’s own leadership journey. Out of all the steps members completed: Orientation, Leadership Training Day, and the 3 Speaker Broadcasts/3 SNT Meetings, the Induction ceremony is the most important because members feel a sense of completion, success, and have established a new networked amongst their NSLS community. Members were able to share their commitment to inspire positive action among their other inductees. While inspiring positive action, Dr Del Doughty (Dean of the College and Liberal Arts), was the keynote speaker who spoke on the important topic of Leadership and how leadership can impact one’s life and Emily Page gave her success story. In addition at the ceremony, students were presented with their Certificate of Leadership Training, car decal, and a new member pin honoring their achievement and membership in the NSLS.
In addition to students receiving their membership certifications, faculty and staff were also presented awards to honor their dedication and passion towards students, The NSLS offered three different awards to 9 different faculty and staff. The awards that were given were the Honorary Membership Award, the Excellence in Teaching Award, and the Excellence in Service to Students Award.
The Honorary Membership award is given to a faculty or staff member who embody the mission of the NSLS while also demonstrate the leadership qualities in a personal and professional setting. These individuals have played an important role for impacting the life of not only students but their peers as well. Dr. LeAnne Wright and Ms. Vicki Melde was awarded with this honor.
Next, the Excellence in Teaching Award was given. This award is given to the individuals who teach with passion and inspire students beyond the classroom while also demonstrating dedication to developing students beyond the classroom. The teachers that were awarded this honor were: Dr. Drew Morton, Dr. Kevin Ells, Dr. Corrine Hinton, and Dr. Jialing Huang.
The final award that was given was the Excellence in Service to Students Award. This award was given to a faculty members on campus who exemplify leadership and mentorship, while demonstrating commitment to bettering the lives of students. The faculty that were given this honor was: Mr. Corey Robinson, Mrs. Brianna Taylor, and Mrs. Courtney Thomas.
The National Society of Leadership & Success lives by the mission of building leaders who make a better world and it is their passion in recognizing their members as well as faculty and staff who embody that mission.
Texas A&M University-Texarkana Counseling Services hosted an event to reduce stress amongst the lives of students and faculty on campus. As we all know, college can be a really tough time for many, which adds to the stress levels on an individual. To reduce this, alcohol tile painting was brought to campus.
A&M-Texarkana Counseling Services brought in a professional painter to give a one-on-one / private session to students. Students were given three tiles to make beautiful tile “paintings.” The tiles could have been used as a coaster, a painting, or however one would like it to be. After being given the tiles, the painter gave students a brief tutorial on how the process works. She gave them an apron, a various array of colors, paintbrushes, and alcohol so students could spread their colors to make a masterpiece.
The event lasted from about 11-2 in Eagle Lounge of the University Center and students left with an urge for more. Who knew that painting tiles could reduce stress?
On Saturday, November 9, the local veterans participated in the annual Veterans Day Parade. Veterans Day is a day to honor the men and women who have served our country by keeping America safe and free. The theme this year is celebrating American Legion 100th year of service to veterans. The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization to provide assistance and service for veterans, their families, military personnel in service, and communities. They help provide transportation to VA clinics, funeral services for veterans, and so much more.
The parade began at 11:00 am. In Downtown Texarkana. The route the parade took started at Broad St. then to Texas Blvd. to Third St. and finally to Stateline Ave. ending in front of the Post Office. There were an estimated fifty participants in the parade, including Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s Student Veterans Association Club (SVA). The attendance of the spectators was low for something as important as recognizing our veterans for all they gave us. Army Staff Sargent Larry David went to each of the high school bands to let the students know how much he appreciated them for taken time off from their Saturday to honor him and other local veterans. The Liberty-Eylau, Pleasant Grove, Texas High, and Arkansas High School bands showed him how proud they were to be there.
The National Society of Leadership & Success hosted their first social event of the year this fall. The purpose of the social event was to bring together current and past members to gather ideas and thoughts about their future plans. The NSLS on Texas A&M University-Texarkana has a total of 384 members and in order for the NSLS to bring together all members, a social event was enacted.The NSLS Chapter at Texas A&M University Texarkana has a total of 284 members currently and 120 members who have been set to alumni status. Altogether, the campus has 384 members who have been on campus.
At the social event, members arrived promptly at 6:00 p.m. in their business casual attire ready to interact amongst their peers. The NSLS provided free food such as: Firehouse Sub sandwiches, Wingstop Wings, Olive Garden, cake, and more! Members were able to take some home! As members were eating and networking, members listened to some of the executive board share their success stories. The speakers talked about their experience through the NSLS, how the NSLS has shaped them as a leader, and why they joined the organization. Members also interacted in icebreakers to establish even more connections.
Members got to witness a speech from TAMUT’s very own, Dr. Kevin Ells on the mindset of a leader. Dr. Kevin Ells is the Associate Professor of Mass Communications at Texas A&M University-Texarkana. Dr. Ells talked about the mindset of a leader and how a fixed mindset and a growth mindset can really influence one’s life. He emphasized that with a fixed mindset, qualities and habits that you inhibit are fixed and cannot change. However with a growth mindset, it allows you with the intelligence than can be developed while you get smarter through hard work. Dr. Ells has various roles on campus. By having a professor speak at an event to students, this allows them to really engage in conversation. “I’d spoken about Carol Dweck’s Mindsets earlier this semester on campus at a public speaking anxiety workshop. I was honored when one of those workshop participants invited me to speak at NSLS, a vibrant new student organization here on campus”, Ells said.
If you and your friends are looking for some fun on-campus activities to take part in be sure to check out the Christmas themed Open Mic Night that the Campus Activities Board (CAB) will be hosting on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at the Patterson Student Center from 6:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. There will be refreshments for everyone and a free Starbucks coffee for the first 30 attendees. Some of the activities that will be going on are karaoke, spoken word, acoustic performances, and conversation. Students are encouraged to come out and have a good time with their peers.
When asked about how important events like these are for students, Lead Event Coordinator Ta’Mar Colby said, “Events like these are good for students because they allow students to relax and have a good time during a time of the year that can be very stressful for a lot of people; it allows them to have an outlet to express themselves. Many times it is easy for students to get caught up in the classwork and exams, so it is nice for them to get a break every once in a while.”
CAB events are created to help students socialize and have a good time, so come on out on November 19th at 6:00 P.M. with some friends to sip some coffee and sing (or listen to other people sing) some Christmas songs.
On November 13th the student couseling services teamed up with Color Hype for a mental health awareness & suicide prevention event. The event was promoted through word of mouth as well as flyers posted throughout the school. All students were welcome to join.
For the students who attended, there were tables set up with ink, alcohol, and ceramic tiles. Students walking by were welcomed to join in and permission slips were available for students who missed a portion or all of their classes during the event.
Color Hype representatives were available at all tables giving instructions on how to do the ink art. Practice pieces of paper were offered and once the student felt comfortable with the technique there were encouraged to begin on the ceramic tiles.
The entire process was a great time for students to take a moment out of their day. Chelsey Rogers stated her view on the activity itself to be “fun mediums where you don’t have to think about it.” There seems to be something therapeutic about taking time out of your day to put attention on being creative.
For future events visit the TAMUT website to see a full schedule of all campus events.
