Category Archives: A&M

TAMUT Took on Dodgeball

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Texas A&M University Texarkana has over forty organizations on campus to keep students engaged and active in the community. Intramural sports is an extremely active organization, hosted by Campus Recreation, which holds weekly sports, games, and activities. For a few weeks this semester, the campus was covered in advertisements encouraging students to sign up for an intramural dodgeball team. Games were held from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Patterson Student Center with a variety of teams formed by students, faculty, athletes, Greek life, and other clubs.

The dodgeball games came to a close in mid February, the last night consisting of a championship tournament with ten games, back to back. Each game required two referees to monitor the ten people on the court and two ball retreivors. The gymnasium, where the games took place, was lively with laughter, music, competitive banter, and a few screams as balls were thrown across the court at opponents.

Time keeper Madison Walters commented on the games, “it’s pretty funny, boys take this so seriously while most of the girls have no idea what’s happening.” She continued to laugh about other intramural events, “you should have seen intramural basketball…that was so bad!” Walters went on to say they were surprised by the number of participants for this sport. Usually they struggle to fill out teams, but dodgeball had about ten games a night.

The center referee, Ellie Kemins, was getting visibly upset by some of the participants. This was the first year TAMUT hosted a dodgeball league in the new gymnasium and there were a few hiccups throughout the night. Kemins commented, “it’s just a game! We need to adjust a few of the rules so this goes smoother next year…a holding limit, no talking to the officials…” Intramural officials looked tired as they chased balls for the players and kept everyone accountable on the court.

While the event lasted for three hours the pace never slowed down. One game started as soon as the previous finished with students lining up for their turn to play. The dodgeball league was a success from all the looks of tired smiling faces as they enjoyed their time with friends. There is a first for everything, and although some hiccups occurred, it was a lively event.

Heart of the Leader

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The Heart of the Leader Training event will take place Sunday, February 10th and Monday, February 11th at Texas A&M-Texarkana, facilitated by Bobby Audley, a leadership character development trainer. This training will accompany a total of 11 student participants hosted by the student activities committee, formally known as Student Life.

This rigorous training is intended to refine and enhance student success. The training consists of multiple educational breakout sessions that address such subjects as motivation, stress management, communication skills, decision-making, ethical leadership, and group processing techniques. Students as well as varying participants are said to graduate from the training with a noticeably new-found confidence, assured future goals, and long-lasting self-awareness. 

Since the training is an all-day two-day event, and resides on a Sunday and Monday, many students are positioned to sacrifice religious and academic scheduled days. Though the training workshop is supported by the president of Texas A&M-Texarkana, when students sign up, they are required to commit to the schedule entirely. All assignments surrounding the set dates are to be left under the student’s responsibility and handled accordingly. Professors are even asked to support the students despite the training necessitating their absence of class.

Furthermore, Heart of a Leader is taken very serious by everyone involved. Students breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all accommodated by the campus. As well as, the materials needed to complete the program. A formal letter is sent to the professors and they along with family friends, and supporters are asked to attend to Heart of a Leader graduation ceremony at the completion of the training. Supporters have been known to take great lengths to show their support. Some have traveled from Dallas and taken off work, even past graduates from all over come to support future graduates of whom they’ve never met. All in order so that they may attend this one-hour graduation.

As this day approached a group of past and present participants were interviewed.

“I’m really excited about this thing, I’ve committed to entering this with an open heart!” said Casey Castell, who is a freshman here at Texas A&M-Texarkana.

“Honestly, I am nervous. I mean, I am an extremely shy person and I don’t really know what to expect. The email about it was specific but vague at the same time. I know one of the activities will cover communication and leadership skills…but what does that even mean? What will I be forced to do?” says another freshman participant named Leslie.

Her face began to tense up as if she were searching for an internal relief. Nevertheless, she digressed with a sigh and said, “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

“…Well, I am very excited but apprehensive. A friend of mine participated last year and he said I will be forced out of my comfort zone but that I will also appreciate all of it in the end. He didn’t tell me specifically what will take place.” says Matthew a junior participant.

As the interview came to a close each student agreed that the experience will be “life changing and eventful”.

 

 

Lady Eagles Prep for the Diamond

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Led by head coach Marie Stone, TAMUT Lady Eagles will be beginning their softball season February 1st, 2019.

Picture Courtesy of TAMUT Eagle Athletics

Marie Stone comes to A&M Texarkana from Murray State College in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. A native of Pittsburg, Texas, Coach Stone has earned her bachelors degree in Exercise Science at Texas Wesleyan University and a Master in Sports Administration from Texas Woman’s University.  In 2010, Coach Stone started the softball program at Our Lady of the Lake University, a member of the Red River Athletics Conference in San Antonio, Texas. In 2013 Coach Stone became head coach of the Murry State softball team. Under the leadership of Coach Stone, the Lady Aggies won NJCAA Regionals in each of the last three seasons. During the 2015 season, the team received numerous honors and was ranked 17th nationally by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) for team grade-point average. In the 2016 season the Lady Aggies set single-season team records for total runs scored (218), home runs (26), stolen bases (45), hits (384), and highest batting average (.325). Coach Stone is entering her second season here at Texarkana A&M along with her assistant coach Jordan Gabriel. Coach Gabriel is in her second season and an alum of West Virginia Tech.

Picture Courtesy of TAMUT Eagle Athletics

The 2019 Lady Eagle softball roster consists of two freshman, Lauren Huff (22) and Lauren Hensley (13), three sophomores Mackayla Rameriz (2), Jaden Lance (25) and Gracelyn Spring (26), five juniors, Hannah Adams (1), Baylee Taylor (6), Morgan Bullock (11), Lauren Bierschenk (19), and Jordyn Logan (23). Tamut completes the roster with seven seniors, Kacey Maines (7), Cassie Vasquez (8), Ashley Nipper (10), Kallee King (14), Kayla Mahan (18), Hannah Cooper (24) and Kallee Wilkins (27).

To download the lady Eagle softball schedule or for more sports update on the team please click here.

Kids’ Yoga with Santa!

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Texarkana Yoga is offering a Kids yoga with Santa workshop on Sunday, December 16 from 5-6:30 p.m. The workshop will be instructed by Brittany Carder. Brittany said “I consider my classes an opportunity to teach mindfulness and awareness of the body and the breath, allowing students to cultivate inner peace for themselves as well as build strength and increase flexibility and endurance”. The workshop will be co-instructed by Venus Lillis who has been practicing yoga for about 10 years and teaching since 2017. Venus regularly teaches Hot Power Yoga, Kids Yoga, Yoga Nidra, and Warm Yoga.

Image Courtesy of TXK Yoga

This fun-filled Christmas themed class will encourage self-expression, social interaction and mind/body awareness through games and yoga poses! Santa will make a special stop by the studio at the end of each class to encourage wellness & good behavior! Each child will get to sit on Santa’s lap and receive a special treat bag!

Kids may bring a bottle of water, please no other drinks or snacks. Mats provided. Wear comfortable clothing.

Limited Spots Available! Class drop-in is $15. For more information or to sign up for yoga with Santa click here.

All Aboard for Prague!

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The Career Development Office has been given an opportunity to host a course, and guess what, it’s a study abroad leadership course to Prague, Czech Republic! It’s going to be focused on career development, your own career choices, and how those fit in the global workplace. Everyone who will take part in this amazing opportunity will travel to five industrial sites in Prague where everyone involved will talk with the leadership and human resources teams. Students will also be connecting with Prague college students who will be sharing how they get jobs there. Similarly, A&M students will share how they can get jobs in America. “I am hoping the students that go with us will return back for an internship or a study abroad course over there,” says Tina Boitnott, Director of Career Development. She also “hopes it opens up the world a little bit more to students and lets them see how they fit into that global workplace with everything they’re learning right here at A&M-Texarkana.” So if you’re curious and interested in traveling to Prague, Czech Republic make sure to stop by our Career Development Office with any questions you may have.

Closed Mic; Open Hearts — Poetry in Performance

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The ENG450 Studies in Genre: Poetry cohort is hosting a spoken word event on Wednesday, December 12, 2018. Students, faculty, staff, and community members are invited to attend a closed-mic poetry recitation that will take place in Eagle Hall from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

The event is sponsored by The Red River Innovation Lab for the Humanities and is organized by Dr. Jaime Cantrell, Assistant Professor of English at Texas A&M Texarkana.

Attendees can expect to hear passionate, inspiring, and thrilling renditions of poetry ranging from well-loved classics by Edgar Allan Poe and William Blake, as well as contemporary poets including Dudley Randall, Carol Ann Duffy, and Sharon Olds.

Dr. Jaime Cantrell

In addition to student performances, our Dean of the College Arts, Sciences, and Education, Dr. Del Doughty, has agreed to share a few of his favorite Shakespearean sonnets.

Ana Bourgeois, an undergraduate dual-majoring in English and History said, “Poetry has a long reach and this event is a unique showcase of that variety. My classmates and I have chosen surprising and powerful pieces that crack open the universality of sex, death, faith and in one case: a dang good book. Dr. Cantrell has used this class to explore the wide accessibility of meaning in poetry and I hope our performances reflect that.”

Click the Play button below to hear Dr. Cantrell’s message for Eagle Eye readers:

Training a Better Workforce

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Photo by Allison Hall

Looking for a way to start your career in the industrial workforce? You’re in the right place! On November 27, 2018, Texarkana College (TC) took a large step toward engaging the community in the workforce world of Texarkana. The local community college, using mostly in-house production, built a new industrial workforce building designed to nurture the future careers of high school students, and prospecting and employed industrial workers.

Photo by Allison Hall

They opened the building Tuesday at around noon under the title ‘Betty & Buddy Ledwell Workforce Training Center’ and TC has equipped the facility with loads of technical supplies to help train people who are looking for this type of career. A large portion of the community showed up to witness the unveiling and to show their support.

 

Photo by Allison Hall

This center is hoping to jump on the expected economic growth here in Texarkana. A growing workforce means a growing rate of employment and Texarkana College is predicting to certify more students in this type of program over the next few semesters than ever before. Maybe it’s’ for this reason that the center decided to use local stories to design the building that and Ledwell’s massive record for employment in this town. They have coated atrium entrance in the story of Mr. Buddy Ledwell, a local manufacturer, and the blueprints he created as a young man studying. They want to establish a good sense of work ethic in anyone who enters the doors and have their students leaving having a rich array of skills in their field.

Photo by Allison Hall

According to the above linked TC article, the program currently has more than 670 workforce students: near 100 of them being enrolled in Industrial Maintenance or Construction Technology. They are expecting growth in program participation, especially with the mention of classes being held during the day and evenings to provide a nice window for any situation, whether that person be employed or not.

Photo by Allison Hall

The goal is to promote enthusiasm and prosperity for this type of skill. An already certified welder, for example, might be more likely to gain a job than one who needs training. Our very own Dr. Cutrer is even working diligently to help these students prosper along their academic careers. Texas A&M – Texarkana and Texarkana College are working together to ensure that students who are attaining their two-year degree at TC, and wanting to further their education, can have a smooth transition to a four-year university, like TAMU-T.

Enrollment for spring of 2019 is currently open for Texarkana College and Texas A&M – University. To learn more about these course and programs, visit or call Enrollment Services at TC to set up an appointment. You can also visit the TC website, www.texarkanacollege.edu, to discover more opportunities.

From Grand Opening to Really Open

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Texas A&M University – Texarkana students are excited about the Patterson Student Center. This new student center will be a great addition to student life, providing students opportunity to engage with others. The facility includes a full size basketball court, weight room, Starbucks café, multi-purpose classrooms, and offices for coaches and staff.

The grand opening for the student center was October 4th. Texas A&M Chancellor Sharp attended the event, speaking to an excited crowd. Sharp expressed great thanks to Cari Patterson, who made sure budget cuts, which would have postponed the addition of the new facility were not made to A&M – Texarkana after a visit with Governor Abbott.

However, the new student center was still not open for students’ use until now, while the university was still in the process of getting a permit to allow use of the new center.

The state-of-the-art facility will provide new opportunities for students.  Athletes are excited about the new weight room and fitness center, and other students are ready to use the full-size basketball court. While many are excited about the athletic equipment, some are excited about the comraderie provided by a Starbucks and a lounge area for students to get together. Having a Starbucks on campus will be convenient for students and staff in a morning rush and do not have time to stop for coffee.

The first big event held at the Patterson Student Center will be the Fall 2018 commencement ceremony, on December 14th.

The new student center is a symbol of growth for the University. The grand opening of the student center was a groundbreaking moment for the university. It is the first building dedicated strictly to student life on the campus. It will provide students a place to stay on campus but get away from the stress of school. Not only will it be good for students, the student will play a key role in recruiting future students when giving tours. This is just one step for A&M-Texarkana, as the campus continues to grow. The University is excited for now about the newest addition to campus. However, it is important to continue to develop the campus and look forward to future advancements.

Need Help With Your Resume?

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The Career Development office here on campus is truly an exciting educational office that educates and teaches students how to get a job. Not only after graduating from college, but through your whole work career. Career Development also teaches students how to conduct themselves around potential employers, professional development, and how to find jobs. So there are many benefits when getting help with your resume on campus. It is accessible to all students and the staff are always here for you. So are there any tips when it comes to creating your resume? Here’s what I found. “One size does not fit all,” Tina Boitnott, Director of Career Development said. “What I mean is that one resume is not good for every job you apply to. Every resume needs to be fine-tuned and tweaked so that it shows relevance to the job that you are applying for, and that’s the one thing that’s sometimes difficult to think about is I need to tweak this resume each and every time.” Similarly, when it comes to students who have little to no work experience there’s a way to work things into your resume. “You have skills that you gained co-curricular, or volunteer out in your community so there are skills set that you’re learning,” Boitnott said. “Maybe you have a leadership role in a fraternity or sorority or student organization, those are good skills that transfer into the workplace. So we just look at what you have done maybe volunteering and not actual pay work.”

In addition to this, anytime a student can show that they’re not only going to school but also work and are active on campus are things employers look at. “They want to be sure that you are well rounded and not just a 4.0 academia and that you’re an excellent student,” Boitnott said. “That’s definitely positive but they also want to know maybe you don’t have much of a GPA but that you are very involved.” Equally important is that a student should at least keep their GPA at a 3.0 since although some of the industries that you go into aren’t going to put as much weight on your GPA , it’s a nice average to have.

Finally, The Career Development are able to help students a lot when it comes to the various workshops offered here on campus. “We will have opportunities where we will invite employers to come in and network with you to teach you how to talk to and approach them, and then when we have the career fairs you’re ready,” Boitnott said. “We’re gonna have a career closet that’ll teach you how to put together a professional interview wardrobe so that when you go to that interview you’re dressed in a way companies and businesses would expect you.” The Career Development staff also goes into classrooms to work with students more one on one to try to create awareness on campus of who they are, and they’re truly remarkable staff. “The Career Development Office at A&M-Texarkana staff wants you to be successful, and the staff wants to help you be successful,” Tina Boitnott said. “We’re not scary, and we’re not intimidating and you don’t know what you don’t know. So why not come in a safe place, learn and get educated on how to do this in a place where people care about you.”

Wanna Study Abroad? Here Are Some Things You Need To Know.

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Jennifer Felps, Director of International Studies. Photo by Cambresha Knight.

Do you want to travel to other countries, try new foods, and embrace the culture you are living in? Get ready for A&M-Texarkana offers a lifetime opportunity. Our university offers a variety of short term and long term for students looking to study abroad. For short-term programs, these components range from one week to three weeks however, for the long-term program, A&M partners with some study-abroad providers, such as (CIEE), who offer programs where A&M students can enroll as a full-time student and take classes abroad for a full semester. If there is an internship option in the student degree plan, the university will allow the student to pursue an internship study abroad. Within the study abroad preparation, the university will ensure that the internship options prepared is directly related to the student’s career field. For example, a Mass Communication student may be engaged in local news stations, local radio stations, or some type of company marketing. History student may work in an art gallery or as a tourist guide in a museum. “It is very important for our students here at A&M-Texarkana to be ready for the global society that they are going to enter, and we offer such opportunities here on campus,” says Jennifer Felps Director of International Studies. Ms. Felps also went on to say that “We have international faculty, international students, we celebrate international education week but for a student to actually receive academic credit and go abroad and experience that culture it can open their world.”

So what are the requirements to meet before studying abroad? What should a student do if they are interested in the campus study abroad program? “The program has to count towards a student’s degree plan and the student must have at least a 2.5 GPA,” Jennifer Felps said. Ms Felps continued by saying that “If a student is interested in going abroad, they should stop by the International Studies office. We can begin the process discussing what their major is, what their favorite location might be for them to study abroad, and then how we can find a program that would fit into their degree plan.”

International students from the Education University of Hong Kong. Photo by Jennifer Felps.

Felps also had a fun experience meeting international students from Hong Kong two summers ago at A&M-Texarkana. “We had a group of doctoral and master students come from the Education University of Hong Kong to A&M-Texarkana,” Felps smiled showing the photo that was taken that day. “This is a picture of our Hong Kong students at State Line. We did a cultural excursion with the students and also held an education workshop that was put on by our educational faculty here at A&M-Texarkana. All of these students were pursuing masters and doctorates in education and so they were able to come to A&M-Texarkana for a short-term program straight from Hong Kong. They visited UT Tyler and then our university to learn more about the educational aspect that we pursue here at A&M-Texarkana.”

So take a little courage, prepare yourself and go out there. “If you are fearsome or worried, come talk to me. I’ll put your mind at ease about things but just understand that you do not need to be scared to experience a new culture, the best way to break the walls around you is to be confident in the life you are trying to pursue” as Felps would say. Thank you for reading. Stay safe and have fun.