Go With the FLO

Thomas Harwell ’11 will tell you growing up in Japan had its perks:  dozens of trips to Tokyo, travel to tropical locales like Guam and Okinawa, and the chance to attend camps around the world.  The one thing life in Japan didn’t provide was friends who would come to Texas A&M University with him.   Fortunately, his Camp Kotinek Fish Camp counselors had an answer to his friendship dilemma; they encouraged Thomas to go with the FLOs.

So in 2007, he and 1,756 other freshmen applied for membership in a Freshmen Leadership Organization.  (Applications were up 11% from 2006.  They were up another 2% this year, with 1,785 freshmen applying.)  Thomas was one of the 557 fortunate enough to be accepted; the rest were encouraged to join other leadership organizations.  If you ask  Thomas about his FLO experience, he’ll tell you his involvement in Freshmen Leaders in Progress, or FLiP, was everything he hoped it would be, and more.

“I met my best friends,” he says, “and fell in love with Texas A&M.”

So far, so good.  But given the fact that Aggieland is known far and wide as home to hundreds of student organizations that foster leaders, as well as friendships, what’s so special about FLOs?
The Freshman Leadership Advisory Council (also known as FLAC), a governance group made up of representatives from each FLO, might point to the unique set of requirements each Freshman Leadership Organization has to meet.  First, and unsurprisingly, the majority of the organization’s members have to be freshmen.   A FLO also has to provide a variety of year-long opportunities for experiential learning; freshmen must have a chance to assume leadership roles and to create, organize, and execute projects; they should be introduced to other leaders and leadership opportunities; and their leadership experiences have to be interchangeable, meaning comparable to those available through other FLOs.

The Differences Are In the Details

Not that interchangeable equals identical.  Each FLO offers first-year Aggies a unique experience based on that particular group’s area of focus.  FLOs with an academic focus—like Leaders in Freshman Engineering (LIFE) and the “Aspiring FLOs” Freshmen Liberal Arts Reaching Excellence (FLARE) and COALS Freshmen Leadership Experience (CFLE)—are geared toward freshmen entering specific colleges. 

Colton Atkins ’11 is one of the founding members of CFLE.  The way he sees it, an academically based FLO “is a way for students to work together and guide each other through school.  It’s there to help form a team, whether for study sessions, tutoring, or overall support.  A FLO creates a ‘no member left behind’ attitude towards education.”

Meredith Crossley ’10, a co-founder of the aspiring Liberal Arts FLO, adds, “One of our goals is to familiarize freshmen with opportunities they may not otherwise know about, like getting involved with international students....  We are also going to promote each major and the opportunities it offers.”   

As for FLOs not specifically affiliated with a college, Collin Laden ’10 will tell you they offer educational benefits all their own.  “MSC FISH (Freshmen in Service and Hosting) ... goes hand in hand with education,” he says.  “The classroom education has given me facts and figures ... [MSC FISH] has challenged me to combine my classroom education and my life experiences.”  Aggies credit Freshmen Leadership Organizations with teaching them everything from leadership skills to self-confidence to time management to how to communicate and work with all kinds of people from almost every walk of life.  They talk about lessons learned, of the times they were asked to do more than they thought they could, and the thrill of accomplishing everything asked of them.  

“You don’t realize how much you are capable of,” enthuses Ali Bergstrom ’11, “until given the chance and the drive to accomplish something.”

But the invaluable, irreplaceable intangibles offered by membership often rank highest among FLO students.   Almost to a man or woman, they’ll tell you their FLO played an important role in their personal journey, helping each one “find myself and my place at A&M.”  

Fun, education, friendships, personal development—you name it, FLOs have it.  No wonder those who know rate Freshmen Leadership Organizations among the most rewarding facets of their Aggie experience!

If you would like to know more about Freshmen Leadership Organizations (FLOs) or any of the more than 800 recognized student organizations at Texas A&M, please visit the Student Activities website at http://studentactivities.tamu.edu/online/home.

Contributed by:
Kathy DiSanto, Communications Specialist
Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs