This past weekend, Texas A&M University-Texarkana hosted their annual Eagle Wonderland in the University Center. The University welcomed many families from the Texarkana community to get ready for Christmas while also participating in various activities to get in the holiday spirit! Activities for the families included stuff a critter, making reindeer food for Santa’s reindeer, writing letters to Santa, and various color activities to get the kids excited for Christmas. In addition to all the activities, families were also given free hot chocolate, free cookies, and free photos with Santa.
The event was held in Eagle Hall in the University Center from 12 noon to 3 p.m. The event was hosted by the Campus Activities Board (CAB) with the help of other organizations, students, and faculty to help volunteer alongside CAB. It was the volunteers that made the event a huge success and it could not have happened without all of the support from Texas A&M University-Texarkana.
Santa at Texas A&M University-Texarkana preparing to get pictures with the kids
Just recently, Corey Robinson, counselor at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, gave a presentation to campus faculty and staff on “Dealing with Depression During the Holidays.” This presentation went over the stress that the Holidays can cause and how to cope with these problems.
As we all know, the holidays can cause a plethora of problems to one’s life due to many causes. Problems such as stress, fatigue, isolation, and seasonal affective disorder to name just a few. It was also stated that with the purchasing of gifts and time management amongst the holidays are also factors that causes stress over the holidays.
Counselor Corey Robinson demonstrating skills to cope with Depression during the Holidays
In addition to all of the stress factors, Mr. Robinson demonstrated a few coping strategies to relieve stress over the holidays. Strategies such as taking time to yourself and having an effect time management plan can really be effective to one’s health over the holidays. Due to the last minute Christmas shopping and the pressure of having to buy a plethora of gifts for many individuals, just that itself causes a toll on one’s health.
To help fix this problem, Mr. Robsinon suggested, “Have an effective time schedule. Plan out your events and schedule it”. Mr. Robinson stated this to ensure that our faculty and staff will be efficient and effective during the holidays and that their families are spending time with the best version of themselves.
It is that time of the year where the first-year students are almost finished completing their first semester in college. For college, it could be a tough time for many and by them getting accommodated to the new college scene and college life, the University had to reward them with amazing prizes if they met the standards.
First Year Experience hosted an event that allowed the freshman to bet on an item of their choosing in an auction style and the student who outbid the other contenders, ended up with a prize. These were no small prizes either on the table for freshman to grab. Some of the prizes included were an: Apple Watch, Apple Air pods, Beats Headphones, a Nintendo Switch, an Echo Speaker, a hammock, gift cards, and more.
A&M-Texarkana students at the FYE End of semester event
A&M University-Texarkana provides engaging activities for first-year students in college, building a strong foundation to enhance educational experiences and foster success within the A&M-Texarkana community. It is important to recognize the significance of each student’s first-year experiences and to support them in reaching their academic and personal goals.
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.
