Howdy! As some of you may know, I am an admissions counselor with the university. One of my primary responsibilities is to recruit West Texas (including Midland/Odessa, San Angelo, and Abilene, along with surrounding areas). I take great pride in recruiting the area as I am originally from Midland and a graduate of Lee High School.

Next week on Wednesday the 12th, I will be holding a new program in the area. At 6:30 PM, in the Midland High School library, Texas A&M will be sponsoring an application workshop for prospective freshmen. At this workshop students will get a firsthand look at the ApplyTexas application, learn tips and hints about essay and resume writing, as well as have the opportunity to ask questions about the admissions process. One of my goals as a recruiter of West Texas was to establish quality programs to excite students about coming to the university. In the past, Texas A&M has been an afterthought to many students in the West Texas region. My hope is to make Texas A&M a popular choice among high school students in the area.

If you know any parents of high school seniors, please let them know of the event. Please contact tkasberg@oar.tamu.edu for details. I look forward to working with these students.

Don't worry Abilene Ags, we'll have one in your city this coming November.

After another dynamic year at the Big Spring Aggie Auction, where we raised 45K for scholarships, our Howard County kids don't get any love. I think we just bought our 7th or 8th endowed scholarship for A&M. We have 14 kids on scholarship from our club alone and a total of 29 attending A&M. I think the Association has us giving around $500 per Aggie in the county.

fuzzyfan-Are you upset because I'm not visiting your area? If so, I do my best to use what little time I have to visit the high schools. Unfortunately much of my time is spent at the large high schools (Lee, MHS, OHS, Permian, etc.) I can certainly make a stop by BSHS to talk to your students. I will be passing through Big Spring from Midland to Abilene on Thursday afternoon (after 2:00). Please email me so we can try to set something up.

Please do not be upset, as my actions are not intentional. If I had the time to visit EVERY high school from Crane to Brownwood, I would. The fact of the matter is that I get a total of about 3 weeks per semester to visit West Texas. One of those weeks can be crossed of the list as it is the state-sponsored college fair week (which I will be in Big Spring for at Howard College on Wednesday, October 3 from 10-11:30). The other weeks are usually so frantic that I am visiting 3-4 high schools a day. If you would like me to send your students information, please let me know. Nobody is more passionate about recruiting West Texas than I am. Unfortunately, I have only been in the position for a year and a half and working with WT for the past 8 months.

Also, you are more than welcome to make the short drive to Midland to join us for the application workshop. I suppose I should have done a better job indicating that the surrounding areas (Andrews, Big Spring, Stanton, etc.) are invited as well.

[This message has been edited by jmtamu (edited 9/7/2007 5:14p).]

[This message has been edited by jmtamu (edited 9/7/2007 5:14p).]