"The Right Choice for Me"

Pearsall, Texas has a lot of things going for it.  Take, for example, the fact that country music legend George Strait hails from this small rural town 50 miles south of San Antonio.  Or the fact that Pearsall is a friendly kind of place—everyone knows everyone else, and everybody is a Pearsall Maverick.   But with a population of around 7,000 the one thing Pearsall doesn’t have is size, so it’s small wonder Urban and Regional Science major Lorena Robledo ’11 found the move to Texas A&M something of an adjustment.

“I thought I would never learn my way around,” she admits with a smile.  As a matter of fact, Lorena rates the move from her hometown to the sprawling College Station campus one of her biggest challenges to date.  “But it’s been great,” she says.  “It was the right choice for me.”

Residence Hall to the Rescue!
As the first Aggie in the Robledo family—her parents attended A&I Kingsville, now known as Texas A&M-Kingsville—Lorena didn’t inherit a wealth of knowledge about Texas A&M.  None of her friends planned to go to A&M.  But a few Pearsall Mavericks who graduated a year ahead of her had enrolled here, and the things they told her when they came home piqued her interest.   So friends or no, Lorena—never one to shy away from a challenge—packed her bags and headed for Aggieland.

Her most memorable Aggie moment occurred on Day One.  She had just finished moving into the dorm, her parents had gone home.  There she sat on her bed, alone in her room, reading a letter her mother had given her, crying because she felt so lonely.  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, the first of many that day.  One by one, the Aggies in the residence hall reached out to one another, banding together to make the adjustment, everyone welcoming and helpful.  Making friends turned out to be no problem at all!  Small wonder Lorena rates living on campus a life-changing experience.

“Doing things with my dorm friends really got me into the Aggie spirit,” Lorena says, “and the people I met in the dorm are still my best friends.  We call ourselves The Most Diverse Friends, because one of us is Hispanic, one Caucasian, one Indian, and one Asian.  We’re [off-campus] roommates now.”

Next Step:  Getting Involved
Once she made some friends and learned her way around, Lorena started to look for ways to get involved.  Family friend Andrew Garza, then-president of the Hispanic Presidents’ Council (housed in the Department of Multicultural Services), was more than ready to suggest an option.  Why not help out with the HPC?  Lorena joined as a committee member, eventually growing confident enough to suggest a tweak to the organizational structure.

“When you join an organization, you meet a whole different group of people,” she points out.  “You feel nervous and hesitant, because you don’t know anyone.  I suggested the HPC add a Social Director position—someone who could plan events like tailgates, bowling socials, and dinners, where everyone could get to know one another.”  Not only was she ready to make the suggestion, Lorena stood ready to serve.  HPC’s first Social Director is currently planning the group’s end-of-year social.

Before long, Lorena caught the eye of the folks in the Department of Multicultural Services, and a staff member nominated her to serve as a DMS Ambassador.  As an Ambassador, she serves as a panelist for prospective student visits, attends fund-raising events, and hosts campus visitors.  What makes this a win-win situation for everyone concerned is, in the course of representing the department and serving others, Lorena reaps a few personal dividends—leadership development, networking opportunities with current and former students, and numerous chances to enhance both her networking and presentation skills.

No Place to Go But Up!
So where does Lorena Robledo plan to go from here?  Let’s just say the lady who loves to challenge herself has set her sights high.

Urban and Regional Science, one of the newer majors in the College of Architecture’s Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, involves the study of cities—how they function, neighborhood infrastructure, planning, etc.  Since Lorena wanted to work in a municipal setting, that major turned out to be the perfect fit.  Once she gets her B.S., she plans to go on to graduate school for Public Administration, maybe in Ohio or Michigan.  She’ll need every bit of that education in order to achieve her ultimate goal, which involves nothing less than becoming the city manager for San Antonio, overseeing the city’s planning, budgeting, and use of resources!

With her eye on that job, it’s no surprise Lorena’s advice to fellow Aggies revolves around challenge!  “Challenge yourself,” she says.  “Decide what you want to do, stick it out, and don’t go back, even if you feel intimidated.  The first step is hard; after that, it’s just about staying committed.”

For more information on the Hispanic Presidents’ Council, please visit http://dms.tamu.edu/leadership/cultural_hpc.htm.

For more information on the benefits of living in residence halls, please visit http://reslife.tamu.edu/. 


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