We Asked 100 Students: What Makes Us Aggies?

We asked 100 random current students the same simple question on campus one day: What makes us Aggies? They answered with quick conviction in passing moments as they sat down for lectures, traveled to class or paused for a snack, always ready with a sincere and thoughtful response.  

It’ll be no surprise that many referenced Aggieland’s unique traditions and core values in creating a common identity, or that phrases like “being part of something bigger than yourself” and “a commitment to service” were also on the tips of tongues. But 59 respondents referenced a deep sense of community—one that cares deeply about each other and the world around them—as Aggies’ most character-defining quality.
 

Their responses reflected the university’s small-town roots, indescribable spirit and intention to create leaders of virtue, as well as that hard-to-put-your-finger-on sense of kinship among Aggies. As Grace Wurm ’24 of Pearland, Texas, masterfully put it: “Aggies know that a friend is always just a ‘Howdy’ away.”