"It's the Students"

It didn’t take Mark Gold ’09 long to figure it out.  He was a freshmen, manning the tool-checkout table at Big Event.

“I didn’t truly understand what Texas A&M was about until that morning,” the 2008—2009 student body president admits, “when I saw 10,000 students pouring across the grass between our table and the Administration Building.  They were coming to collect their tools, so excited about serving their community!  Seeing that many Aggies eager to help others changed my life.”

Not that he hadn’t already fallen in love with Aggieland.  Thanks to two older sisters who were Aggies, Ruth ’01 and Liz ’05, he already had a more-than-passing acquaintance with A&M.  He knew, for example, the University offered a top-notch education.  But the love affair really started when he took in a few Aggie baseball games.  That Olsen Field magic hooked him, and the high school shortstop from Palestine, TX, began to dream of wearing the Maroon and White.

There was just one problem with that dream, he reckons with a rueful smile:  “I wasn’t good enough.”  But by the time he realized it he already had his heart set on becoming a Fightin’ Texas Aggie, a biomedical science major, and one day, a doctor.

Mark’s desire to practice medicine dates back to the eighth grade, when he first tagged along with his ophthalmologist dad, Daniel, on a medical trip to Lebanon.  As he watched his father and other doctors provide treatment up to and including eye surgeries, the future Aggie decided medicine was the field for him.  Not only would a medical career allow him to indulge his penchant for math and science, it would give him professional access to the world.  Subsequent trips to numerous countries, most of them in the Middle East, cemented his decision.  He hasn’t chosen a specialty yet, but plans to take the MCAT this summer and, hopefully, enter medical school in the Fall of 2010.

So Many Opportunities, So Little Time
With so much on his plate for next year, Mark is well aware of the need to manage his level of involvement and focus his energy.  That, he says, is one of the biggest challenges faced by students at A&M:  Aggieland offers so many great out-of-the-classroom learning opportunities it’s tough to limit yourself to one or two.  Needless to say, given the time commitment required, student body president was his only point of involvement this year.  It’s also the most challenging job he’s held to date.

“It has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”  He smiles.  “And the most rewarding.  I’ve been challenged in so many ways: I’ve learned how to be a good follower and support the decision-makers; how to be a good leader, representing students with diverse, sometimes opposing opinions; how to be a good team manager with my executive staff; and how to manage myself so I make time for my friends.  My priorities have been challenged, too, because I’ve had to stay focused on other important things like faith, family, and my education.  Serving as student body president led me to question who I am and how I’ve handled the job entrusted to me.  I can’t tell you how much I’ve learned and grown.”

While deciding on a level of involvement presents one kind of challenge, Mark can list others, many of them longer term and much more complicated.

“I’ve been challenged to find out who I am as an individual, what my passions are, what I really want to do; to set goals and stay focused on them so I can identify the ways I want to commit my energy.”

Aggieland:  A Place Like No Other
If you ask him about the high points of his tenure as student body president, Mark will mention the way Aggies came together to help victims of Hurricane Ike, the moving memorial for Zac Cook ’08 (the Army second lieutenant who was killed just a few weeks after graduation when a Black Hawk he was riding in crashed on campus), and meeting the Bonfire families.  As far as he’s concerned, instances like those set the student body of Texas A&M apart from all others.

“I love to talk to high school students,” he says.  “I tell them, ‘Yes, you can get a great education at Texas A&M, but you can get that at a lot of schools.  You’ll find a great community in Bryan/College Station and a lot of opportunities to get involved on campus.  Well, other colleges and universities offer great communities and chances to get involved, too.  But you’ll never find a student body like ours anywhere else in the world,’ I say.  Our students’ values and character are what makes Aggieland so special, one of a kind.”  He pauses before summing up.  “And I’m incredibly blessed to be a part of it.”

The Student Government Association  is a recognized student organization housed under the Department of Student Activities.  To find out more about SGA and more than 800 other recognized student organizations, visit http://studentactivities.tamu.edu/online/home.

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