Student Convocation

When we as a freshman class first chose Texas State as our future college we were told about a program that we were to attend besides orientation. As any freshman student would we all groaned just wanted to get to the fun parts of college. This common experience that we all had to attend was a blessing in disguise though.

Not only did the Paws Preview, as it was named, teach you information about your soon to be attended school, it taught you how to utilize your freshman year to best benefit you. Each group was assigned a PAL and that PAL could answer any question that you had or needed to know about Texas State. Not only did we find out where everything was on campus, some of us even got to see the lecture rooms where our future classes were to be held. No, it was not the best time when we had to sit through a class or lectures that were not wanted, but in the long run it was going to help us be in the loop as new students in a huge university. We had no idea how lost we would have been as a whole freshman class without this opportunity. At the time when I was actually in Paws Preview I did not enjoy it, but now I can see that it helped our class as a whole. 

The one part of Paws Preview that stood out to me though was the Convocation. This is the one and only time our entire freshman class was to be in one room as a whole, and that to me was a moment to be proud of. It was a moment that none of us would ever see again. We were all brought in group by group and sectioned in the colosseum squirming as we waited and waited for our speakers to begin. I happened to have a prime seat on the floor up close to the stage where I could see everything that was going on at that time. It was fun as the cheerleaders performed and the deans were introduced over the microphone. The arena seemed in awe as everything went on and it was pretty quiet with respect through out. Looking around you could see every face that made up our freshman class as a whole.

Then the speaker of the night was a relative of Lyndon B Johnson himself which was a an amazing experience as well. We were freshman just starting our journey at this amazing school and here is the blood relative of our famous alumnae that makes our school proud being the only United States President to come from a college in Texas. We all sat and listened to the wise words spoken and some people were probably not obtaining this information. I did not catch all of what was said but I know that Lyndon Nugent was proud of Texas State just like his grandfather was. At that moment I was proud to be at a school that meant so much to so many people. It was a school that had school pride and had that pride of knowing a president graduated from there. 

After the presentation we all celebrated the day at Sewell park with food and fun activities going on all around us at the river. There were multiple generations of Texas State students at attendance of this making the gathering even more to remember. There is nothing more exciting then starting off your college experience knowing that you made the right decision. I represent Texas State class 2012!