Trip to Aggieland

This weekend I had one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I went to a Texas A&M game, at their campus in College Station, TX. A little background to set the stage, Texas A&M was founded in late 1800's as a military school. It wasn't until the seventies, that students were allowed enrollment without participating in the "corp." The Corp was the part of the university that still remained regimented like the old ways. Today, only 2000 to 2500 are in The Corp of the 49,000+ that are currently enrolled. And like a military school, tradition is everything. From bells ringing at certain times to taps being played in certain directions, from not walking on grass in certain areas to a whole museum dedicated to remembering the past, Texas A&M is unlike any school I have ever seen.

Now, let me fast forward to midnight on Friday. Every Friday night (unless it is an away game, then it is on Thursday night) the students and The Corp get together for what they call Midnight Yell. This starts right before midnight and about a mile away from the stadium in The Corp's dormitory area. They line up in their modified uniform (company shirt, BDU/camo pants, boots, and company helmet) behind the band, which is also in the The Corp, light up some huge torches and march into the stadium. The students and fans then follow all the cadets into the stadium where they practice their yells. It is basically a big pep rally, except these yells are done by everyone. During the game, there is 90,000+ all doing the same yell or chat...one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. 90,000 people all on the same page is amazing. Here is a picture of 30,000+ at midnight getting pumped up for the game. They have a speaker and then the students tell fables that some how are suppose to parallel the upcoming game.

The funny thing is that most of their yells have to do with beating the Longhorns of the University of Texas. Even during the game, while they were playing an east coast team, they were talking about sawing the Longhorn's horns off. The Texas A&M fight song even talks about beating UT. It is one of the coolest things ever and every person is involved and knows the history.

Once game day came around, The Corp once again assembled, but this time in their standard uniforms. They marched to the stadium and everyone comes out to watch. Without exaggerating, I bet there were 100,000 to 150,000 people watching and cheering this event on. Most of them just tailgated and didn't even get a ticket to watch the game. There were tents every where with family names on them and then the years of their graduates...definitely a tradition.

The game was great and A&M won easily. But, that ended up being the least interesting aspect to the whole trip. I started off just wanting to see a bigger college football game and I ended up getting much more than just a game experience. I am sure it probably means a little more to someone in the military that know what these kids in The Corp are going through, but then again it is so much harder than what I have gone through, I can't fully understand it. Military schools like this make even make the Air Force Academy and West Point look like a vacation.

I apologize for writing so much; I promise the next ones will be shorter and easier to read.