It began as an idea on the back of a tour bus my freshman year, born in conversation with another singing engineer. Four months later, we recruited the university’s very first professional chorus made up entirely of engineering students.
Undergraduate Research Experience
As a freshman, I was very reserved about going into research. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I wasn’t sure if it was the right path for me. And, to be honest, I still haven’t figured out what I want to specialize in, but here’s how my research experience has helped me so far.
Transitioning Back to Campus
This semester is going to be full of newness. Whether the changes that we’re facing are liked or disliked, we have the option to be positive and embrace the new normal. Let’s make it a good semester and enjoy our time here!
3 important tips for excelling in PowerPoint presentations
It can be very difficult to present all of your hard work and knowledge in a mere five-minute presentation, especially when you might face unfair judgment. With that said, I have some tips for how you can prepare well and be confident while presenting. Here is a simple way to impress your audience by helping them stick with your speech rather than feel lost in the figures and descriptions on the slides.
How the Corps of Cadets and Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band helped me become a better engineer
Some experiences and lessons learned from being an engineer in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets and the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band.
Being a Woman in Engineering
If you find yourself doubting if you can be an engineer, the answer is yes, you certainly can.
Struggling to find things to do outside research? Here are some ideas to change that.
Life as a graduate student can be busy and demanding. Juggling classes, research goals and advisor expectations can bring with it rigors that make living up to every benchmark tough and draining. In times like these, I find it extremely rewarding to give myself some wiggle room to just relax and involve myself in activities that help me recharge. Different people find solace in different activities. Some like sleeping in, hanging out with friends, etc. If, like me, you enjoy spending time outdoors, here are some ideas for things to do.
Explore your creativity with Fischer Design Center resources!
When class finishes and many rush out of their learning studios and flood the Zachry Learning Stairs, the vast majority of students simply breeze past the most impressive part of the building. No, not Starbucks — the SuSu and Mark A. Fischer ’72 Engineering Design Center.
What Anchoring a Podcast Taught Me About Defining Success
I am a student host for SoundBytes, the Texas A&M Engineering podcast, and I’ve had the opportunity to interview so many amazing student leaders, program directors and people with tremendous and far-reaching impact! Separating me from every phenomenal person I’ve interviewed are only two microphones and a mixing station. Unfortunately, being that close to other successful people doesn’t mean that I can osmotically become more successful, nor does it mean I can easily define what success looks like in my life.
You Graduated Without a Job Offer… Now What?
It may feel intimidating at first to see people around you getting careers started, but that doesn’t mean you’re behind. Taking time to understand what you want from a career, how you want to pursue it and how that may affect your life is a highly personal process.
Personal Financial Management
Personal finances can be tricky. They are a continuous task, and the transition into adulthood can be very confusing. Having a solid financial plan can help diminish financial problems, and even making the slightest change can have a big impact.
Significance of a Mentor
Mentors come in many varieties: a class professor, research professor, upperclassman, co-worker, manager, etc. But they all serve to guide you along your path. It’s a humbling experience to have someone take the time to teach you concepts that you struggle with. Mentors build you up by being candid with you and sharing wisdom for how to approach situations.
How To Ditch a Bad Habit
We have all had a bad habit that drains us in certain aspects of our life, whether it is physically, mentally, or emotionally. They reduce our productivity and prevent us from having a healthy lifestyle, and it is important to end them so we can improve ourselves. Sometimes it is difficult to know where to start the process so I will be sharing a few tips that will help accomplish your goal.
My Engineering Experience at Texas A&M Higher Education Center at McAllen
Students at the Higher Education Center at McAllen have a unique opportunity to earn an engineering degree from Texas A&M University while living in a thriving, close-knit community in the Rio Grande Valley. Check out Kassie’s vlog where she shares a glimpse into life at Higher Education Center at McAllen!
Benefits of the Engineering Academy
When I was applying to Texas A&M, I was very worried about starting classes. Being a woman in STEM can be an intimidating career path, but I didn’t want to let my fears overcome me. That’s when I got the offer to be a part of the Engineering Academy, and I was relieved. This program was the best pathway for transitioning to a noticeably big school. It made me feel more included in classes and it has many benefits.
Life Outside of Engineering
For many of us, classes and school work take up a majority of our day—which is okay because, after all, that is the reason we are here, right? Yes, we are here to get the best education, but what about life outside of engineering? There are many components of Texas A&M that go beyond the glass walls of the Zachry building.
5 things I wish I’d known when applying to Texas A&M
I didn’t grow up in Texas so before coming to college, I had no idea what Texas A&M was like. I had never been on campus visits before and I didn’t know people who went here. So the moment I landed in College Station, surprises started unraveling.
Atomic Steps Toward Continuous Improvement
I always felt that if I had more free time, I could do a lot of things before I went to bed. I thought, “If only I had a bit more time today, I could have done this, that and so on…” The thought of not doing enough in a day was less irritating than the feeling I got every night before going to sleep. I remember telling myself that ‘tomorrow is going to be a better day,’ only to realize that I had failed again. As the days passed, this routine had turned into a bad habit and I realized it was becoming more difficult for me to change my habits.
Managing Your Inbox
Our email’s inbox can be a scary place with an insane amount of unopened emails. I don’t know about everyone else, but when my email is cluttered and full of notifications, I miss important notices, dates and pieces of information. In times like this, it is more important than ever to stay on top of things.
Treading New Waters
It goes without saying that, with our new way of life, everyone from students to professors alike, has had much difficulty with the transition to online. Organizations and clubs are feeling this more, since they are formed on the basis of social interaction, and many leaders of these organizations, myself included, have felt the heavy burden of working within our new boundaries. This leads many of us to ask: How can we make our organizations appealing to students with the new online format?
Personalize Recruiting: Making it Easier to Land that Job Offer
The start of the semester is everybody’s favorite time of the year. With the Student Engineers’ Council (SEC) Career Fair marking the advent of the unofficial recruiting season for many companies, there’s no doubt that an unrecognized wave of anxiety rushes over our collective student body. While this season can often be stressful as students research companies, freshen up their resumes and try to figure out how to craft that perfect cover letter, sometimes it’s the little things that can make all the difference when landing that dream job.
Why we should all be “grad students” for life
I believe we should all be grad students for life because we should be ambitious, always strive for excellence, seek to overcome that next challenge and be what we were meant to be — problem solvers and engineers.
BTHO COVID-19!
2020 has been a tough year, but as always, the Aggie spirit will persevere!
Jumping on the Bandwagon
Time runs ever slower in the dog days of quarantine, boarded up in our apartments and houses while the things we found enjoyment in are starting to lessen their gleam bit by bit. That is why I knew I had to come up with something to do during my quarantine to help pass the time, and I decided to join the bandwagon and try out a couple new hobbies.
The Start of College for a Cancer Patient
Being a first-generation college student is already hard, but being a first-generation college student with cancer is that much harder. My name is Evelin Pacheco Mota, an industrial distribution major with a double minor in business and statistics at Texas A&M University. Within my two years at Texas A&M, I have struggled with my health, been placed on academic probation, beat cancer and was accepted into my dream major. Here is the story of how a crazy beginning turned into a blessed reality.
COVID’s Silver Lining
I think it’s safe to say that canceled plans have affected everybody reading this post. Ring days, study abroad trips, graduation ceremonies, summer internships and surely many more incredible memories were lost because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Day in the Life of a Grad Student at Texas A&M
Interested in finding out more about what it’s really like as a graduate student at Texas A&M? Check out Bryton’s vlog where he shares what a typical day is like!
On Optimism and Resilience
I was my mother’s (unwilling) sous-chef for years. She had to drag me — kicking and screaming — into the kitchen to chop vegetables, make rice and learn the spice blends that went into aromatic Bengali cuisine. After she passed away, I remember standing in the kitchen and wanting to sob, because Ma was no longer there to tell me where to start or what to do next, and I would’ve given anything to hear her voice just one more time.
5 milestones for computer science enthusiasts during freshman year
Many freshmen come in knowing what they want to major in; however, most utilize their freshman year to find their passion. I always knew that I wanted to pursue computer science (CS). This post is not about why I love this engineering major, but about how Texas A&M makes me love it even more. So if you’re a freshman coming into Texas A&M next semester and you don’t yet know which island in the vast ocean of engineering you want to inhabit, I hope this article enlightens you about most of the opportunities in computer science.
Top 5 Tips to Prepare for Grad School
I was lucky to have all things go in the right direction since the day I started my grad school career. However, there’s no debating how important and better it is to have a plan in place over just being lucky. So, here are my top five tips to be considered during your preparation process for grad school.