True American Heroes

I was reading an article on the internet last night about a true American hero, a Soldier in the US Army. He had been serving our country in the middle east when his team came under fire. The brave soldier saw a grenade land near his brothers, he threw himself on it to protect their lives.

Later at Walter Reed Medical Center the doctors told him he would be able to keep his legs but it would take months of rehab to get use of them again. The brave young man said to the doctors "cut these legs off so I can go and fight with my brothers again as soon as I can."

Our rights and freedoms are protected by some of the bravest men and women this world knows. These are who we honor during the national anthem. I ask all of you to stand and remember them next time you hear our song.

Always an Aggie,
CT

Dream More, Do More

Many people argue about how one voice cannot make a difference, I have a story which proves otherwise. We must always remember to stick to our beliefs, speak about the truth, and never give up.

John Quincy Adams, a person best known as the 6th President of the United States, was an advocate to end slavery in the states. Adams served his term as president from 1825-1829 and returned to Washington to continue his fight against slavery as a member of the House of Representatives in 1831.

Adams would take to the House floor to debate one issue, slavery. It did not matter what bill or resolution was up for debate, he would take his time to speak about ending slavery. Eventually, southern members of congress grew annoyed and flustered, this caused them to vote and pass the "gag rule" which prevented congress from hearing any anti-slavery petition. Essentially, congress outlawed it for Adams to speak on the House floor, but he continued to speak out against slavery talking to freshman members of congress about how slavery needed to end.

In 1847 Abraham Lincoln took his place in the House of Representatives and sat on the back bench of the House next to former President John Quincy Adams and they would discuss slavery. John Quincy Adams would die in 1848 thinking he did nothing in the fight against slavery, little did he know that years later a presidency of Abraham Lincoln would be defined by the abolishment of slavery.

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams



Always an Aggie,
CT

Friendly Debate in Classrooms

College is a great experience for all. This morning as I was thinking what to write about today, our class broke into debate over the Supreme Court's hearing on the Healthcare Bill passed by Congress.

College is a place where you can openly debate and not feel threatened by other students. In a classroom environment where more times than not the professor is the moderator you hear different views on issues. When you leave the classroom one of two things has happened (1) your original view has been strengthened due to knowing the othersides beliefs or (2) you have become more sympathetic to a particular issue or situation.

For me the first one is usually the case, but it is always great to keep an open mind and never walk away or shut yourself out because you disagree with a persons view. At NMSU you can always count on a friendly environment to share your opinions.

Always an Aggie,
CT

Tools for Success

The first thing I heard about in the office today was about our upcoming New Student Registration. I reflected back on my NSR Day, I was nervous but excited, it was 90% excited and 10% scared, heck for all I know it could have been 90% scared 10% excited but that is what is so great about the unknowns.

In college you need a few things to be successful, for everyone else these are different. I will share with you what I believe are my keys to being successful in college and in my life:

Faith: I know college has a lot to do with personal drive and motivation, but for me I get a lot of inspiration and drive from the Lord.

Family: A supportive family is a great way to become successful in life and at any goal you have. With the motivation from family you set your mind to accomplishing tasks you would otherwise find difficult. I recall after my high school graduation a man I call Uncle Mike came up to me and said "Charles, if you come back from New Mexico State with anything short of a degree I am going to kick your butt." (Alright, maybe he didn't say butt, but this is a great job and I dont want to lose it.) I have never known Uncle Mike to be a liar, and I am not about to find out.

Freedom: I know what comes to mind when you hear the words "Freedom" and "College" put together in a sentence, but that is not how I am meaning it at this point in time. Freedom in college is to not be taken for granted or taken advantage of, you must learn how to manage your freedom and get your work done. If you slip up on managing this, your time at the university will be fun, but short.

Duty: This goes along with Freedom, you have a duty to get your classes and work done, you are here to have a good time, meet new people, and get a degree. Keep your eye on the prize as they say and get the degree you are seeking. Remember the main reason you came to college in the first place and you will be fine.


Always an Aggie,
CT

Spring Break!

Hello Readers!

It's the week of spring break woo hoo!! This week is about relaxing and enjoying 5 days off from classes, work and the grind. I will say this has been one weird break so far. Super wind, HAIL, freezing temperatures... strange things are a foot. Campus and Las Cruces are pretty dead.

Here in the office things are pretty slow. Most of us are out of the office enjoying the break. But for those of us in the office we want to know what everyone is up to. What are all the lovely readers doing this week? Email the Aggie Ambassadors at Aggies99@nmsu.edu and let us know what you are up to!

The REAL scoop on our very own Crimson Breakfast Club

I'll admit us ambassadors are quite a diverse group of individuals. There are eleven of us in total. And while my fellow ambassador  mentioned us in a previous post, he definitely missed the target on our individual personalities. AND he also missed a handful of ambassadors, so here it goes Aggies, a better description on each of us.

• The foreigner he described is Filipino, is actually a smart and structured type of guy, Albert. He has many stories to tell about his life and all the adventures he's experienced. 

• The Jock definitely wants to be a Senator one day and probably will be Charles is the type of guy you want as one of your best guy friends. The protective southern gentleman, he will give you a very honest opinion. 

• Our free spirit, is the girl who has the funniest stories and best outlook on life. You could probably picture her surfing in Australia but at the same time, she has a good head on her shoulders. An advocate for Relay for Life, Kayla can be passionate for the things she loves.  

• Our firecracker Jodi is an aspiring teacher who is often the leader of the gang. Standing a little over five feet she can put any size person in their place. But don’t let that fool you, she has a heart of gold.

• The cowgirl Hannah is ready to get down and dirty, whether it be with her horses or just lifting boxes from the storage room. And although she may be as tough as a cookie, she is a thoughtful and sweet person who will take the time out of her day to make yours just a little bit better. Oh and she's bound to make you laugh and put a smile on your face.

• You can hear her laugh a mile away, and once you do, it’s infectious. In a dull moment she’s bound to make something interesting happen. You’ll never get bored being around Jessica, who I consider the life of the party.

• I haven’t gotten a chance to be around Eddie, but here it goes. He studied abroad for a semester and that alone says a lot about him. Independent yet free, he just lives life.

• The Pretty Brain is the girl who is organized to the T and on top of things. Lydia with her mile long eyelashes, may be about the books, but she has a sweet side to her. She’s always willing to lend a helping hand whenever and wherever she is.

• Some people may see her as a “tree-hugger” because she cares so much about the environment and animals. But Carley is also very smart and put together. She would probably win “Most Likely to Succeed” in high school, because she’s the type of girl who will accomplish anything she puts her mind to.

• The comic-book, die-hard Dallas Cowboy fan is our very own Kris. At times he can say the most absurd tings, but underneath his protective mask he is a kind and sweet person. If you are going through a crisis, he’s the most likely to sit down and wait til you figure whatever it is, out.

• And I’m what he calls, the “Beauty Queen.” In my defense, I do love all things beauty, but it’s not something that defines me. I’m an aspiring reporter and I love conversations, especially when they’re about people and their fascinating lives (which is why I like to talk, I guess.)

                                              IMAGE SOURCE: http://not-critical.com/2010/09/the-plot-inception/

So Aggies, there you have it, a little description as to the different personalities that walk in and out of the admissions office. Our very own Crimson "Breakfast Club." We may all each be different, but together we make for one very interesting group. Our conversations are ones that get you thinking, challenge your viewpoints but leave you feeling amazed and grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by such characters.

Your very own,

Josie

Project G (The Albert De La Fuente Situation)

We all have dreams.We all dream of being something, somewhere, stuck in some time of our life passed or yet to be...

Usually when your in college you stay up late hours studying. When I stay up late to study, usually by the time I do finally knock-out , I really knock-out.I become immersed in some pretty deep sleep state where I find myself in some pretty crazy dreams

I have found myself stuck in a musical dream, where everybody on campus just always broke out in song & dance. You know like in Grease, It would be me and a girl singing to songs like Black Eyed Peas "Meet Me Halfway" or Rihanna's "We Found Love"

....."We found love in a hopeless place"....."Can you meet me halfway, right at the borderline?
...."That's where I'm gonna wait for you"....

While the students danced around us or sung out the chorus to our lyrical rhyme. We would break out in song walking down the I-Mall like a huge musical production.

I had another dream,Now in this dream. Charles, Albert & I were celebrating Albert's graduation

See, Albert's graduation was the next day. So we all decided to hang out and watch the Lakers vs Celtics game at his apartment on campus. We were chillin', when Albert brought out some new extreme herbal energy drinks his parents had sent from the Philippines (where he is from)

So we decided to make a toast to the future, and drank the energy drinks....

Flash forward to the next Morning, the day of Albert's graduation. I wake up on the floor of a hotel room without a memory of what had happened. I find Charles outside face down in the grass down on the first floor of the hotel complex

But No Albert!!...his father had told me the night before, "I am proud of my son, he is the first of my children to graduate from an American university, watch over him and make sure he makes it to his graduation on time"

When we searched the room all we found was Neil Patrick Harris in the hotel bed. We ask Neil, "What happened last night?" He explained that he was in town for the NMSU Graduation as a guest speaker and that last night was wait for it...Legendary!

With a few hours til Albert's graduation..what followed was ..Supposedly we flew out to L.A. with Neil Patrick Harris to watch the Lakers-Celtics game, then partied with Neil at his favorite clubs until Charles tried to hit on Kobe Bryant's girl. Then we basically got into a fight left Albert behind and were on the run from Bryant's entourage. We took Bryant's car, got into a car chase.

Turns out I had unknowingly stole one of Kobe Bryant's championship rings (because he had won it against my Celtics) . So he held Albert hostage until, I gave it back.  Mayhem ensues ..

We get Albert & Meet up with Neil Patrick Harris at his private jet and fly back to Cruces with little time before Albert's graduation but we get him there in time.

We all celebrate again that night at Albert's apartment. We wake up again in the morning without any idea of what happened the following night.Albert goes missing again... mayhem ensues....

The End

The Crimson Breakfast Club (How I Met Everyone)

 Where did I leave off? That’s right….

Kids in the Spring of 2012, Your father was attending New Mexico State University. At the time I was trying my best to stay afloat my first semester in Grad School, 

At the same time I was serving as an NMSU Aggie Ambassador .I worked alongside a colorful bunch of processors, advisors & students in that office

Remember how I told you earlier about the time I was going to be a fire fighter before I pursued Journalism. How I proved to my superiors that I had what it takes when the cadets had to race each other to push a van across a park and back to the academy. In my team, my group gave up but your father never stopped pushing, never stopped running and pushed that van by himself for a while until I reached the finish line…

Well kids that couldn’t prepare me for what I had to endure in those offices. I could handle the parents and students on tours, that was easy. Your father had a way of entertaining his tours.

I’m talking about, my co-workers

Pushing a van with 210% of my strength was easy, but sitting down listening to chick talk gossip is harder to endure. Especially when Lydia, you know that pretty hazel-eyed brain I always talk about, she was smart but man did she drive your father nuts. She was hell bent on trying to get your father to drop the comic books and jump out a window. 

She and especially that Country Girl I always forget her name. Oh yeah Hannah, I tell you with her there was always something up with her and a guy somewhere. Some guy from her past, some guy from her present, some guy she never met, some guy on an NFL team. Her and Jodi, who was a rebellious firecracker of a girl

Remember the other day when you guys were watching E! News and I said I used to work with that intelligent woman you saw on TV. Well that Beauty Queen was Josie, she was a talker too.

Then there was Kayla, who was such a beautiful free spirit. She was pretty chill, different from the other girls. I could sit with her be myself and talk about music, you know how your father loves Led Zeppelin, and well she just got it and helped restore your father’s faith in women. Every time I hear Tiny Dancer I think of her

I don’t think I would have survived without your Uncle Charles. Kids before he was known as Senator Turner he was kind of a jock. We had some memorable nights in those days. Charles and Albert that Captain America Foreigner I talk about changed my life that semester.

See kids, People see us as they want to see us... In the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. 

But what we found out is that each one of us is a foreigner, a brain, a jock, a beauty queen, a geek, a teacher, a student. I learned that we had nothing in common, but each other...

Sincerely yours, The Crimson Breakfast Club.

The Crimson Breakfast Club

  I'm here sitting, I'm here listening to classic 80's songs, I'm thinking about something a fellow coworker said to me earlier today....She said, "I saw you earlier today and you just passed me by"

     The funny thing Is, as I thought about it, the pretty girl I had seen/checked out walking down the NMSU I-Mall was in fact the same Hazel-eyed beauty confronting me. I had mistaken her  for someone else as I passed her by. I didn't mean to pass her by without waving at her. This all got me thinking...

I work in Admissions, I have been working as an Aggie Ambassador for a couple of semesters now. I work alongside other student work-studies in the office.

My fellow Ambassadors range in their ages; around 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24. Some are young freshman, some learning how to stay afloat the chaos of their classes, others are trying to fit in socially with the college scene & others are preparing to graduate and find out the next step in life.

When we met we were strangers with nothing in common, if you ever sit down and listen to the different conversations that go on while we work you will find out that each of us are different....

One of us a Foreigner, a Beauty Queen, a Country Girl, a Pretty Brain, a Free Spirit, a Jock, a Recluse, a Rebel, a Comic Book geek

Sometimes the conversations range from empty gossip to thought provoking banter. Sometimes you have the beauty queen who feels the need to say something to be with the in crowd, sometimes you have the jock with the aspirations to become a senator someday, the pretty brain who always works herself to go above and beyond and other times you can have a down to earth conversation with a free spirit who can help re-shape the way you see the world.

Sometimes we may not understand each other, sometimes the only times we see each other is when we are at work but hopefully we affect each other in some capacity that helps guide us to becoming something.

If your lucky you can make a connection....

Don't You Forget About Me
                 Don't Don't Don't Don't
                            Don't You Forget About Me

Will you stand above me?
                   Look my way, never love me
 
Will you recognize me?
             Call my name or walk on by
          
         As you walk on by
              Will you call my name?
                  Or will you walk away?

Hey, hey, hey, hey Ohhhh.....Don't You Forget About Me