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Finding your fit in Aggieland PUBLICATION NOTICE The Battalion will return to publishing weekly print editions each Thursday starting Sept. 1. Online content will be updated daily and can be found at thebatt.com.

EDITOR’S NOTE The Battalion is hiring contributors at every desk. Applications are available at tx.ag/applybatt and can be turned in to MSC L400 or to editor@thebatt.com.

Cameron Johnson- —THE BATTALION

Students promoting their student organizations in front of the Memorial Student Center on Feb. 14, 2022.

Student organizations bring fun, connections at A&M By Michaela Rush @Michaela4Batt Before classes, exams, sleeping and partying, Texas A&M students find ways to connect with their peers and community through the over 1,000 officially recognized student organizations on campus. Organizations can be classified as anything from academic, to social, to multicultural, allowing every student to find their fit and make the most of their time in Aggieland. Academic organizations like Women in Geosciences, or WIG, help students with common interests connect and know more of the peers they see in classes each semester. WIG President and geophysics senior Milly Hencey said she’s been involved with WIG since its first

semester. “I found out about it through a program called Geo-fest, which is the Geosciences’ Howdy Week event where the organizations will advertise [themselves],” Hencey said. “The two co-founders, Christina and Leah, encouraged me to join and were really sweet. I submitted an application, it was super chill and that’s how I got involved.” Though the factor that unites members of WIG is their love for geoscience academia, they host a variety of events throughout the year, Hencey said. “We do a lot of service events, like canned food drives, animal food drives for shelters [and] park clean-ups,” Hencey said. “We also have a lot of social events, like making bracelets, [and] we have formals. It’s the whole spectrum of things you’d expect out of an organization. We have weekly meetings highlighting women in [STEM and] one of our members and then do something fun at the end.” Other organizations are dedicated to

serving the community in regards to particular causes. Ags REACH, founded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, is the campus partner of the REACH project, which serves the “essential Aggies” on campus: dining hall workers, janitors and other third-party contractors. Drew Powell, Class of 2022, is a founding member of the campus chapter and said he got involved after meeting REACH founder, Max Gerall, Class of 2018. “[In spring of 2020], the BUILD project was building two health clinics for the REACH project, and Max was one of the keynote speakers at our meeting and I really connected with the REACH project mission,” Powell said. “I was one of the people on the team that sat down and created the student organization during COVID-19. I designed the entire structure by myself … Now, I serve as the REACH affiliate, the unofficial advisor.” To connect with essential Aggies,

Ags REACH hosts events such as the Custodian Banquet, an annual Christmas Drive, and their Health Fair while also visits frequently visiting with campus staff, Powell said. “The Health Fair is a semesterly program where we communicate with partners and distribute medical information or supplies, it’s a community-driven event, with as many as 30 partners,” Powell said. “We do break-room visits, where every two weeks we go and have lunch with some of the staff members on campus. It lets them know that the REACH project is here, and just to talk to them, and make them feel appreciated.” Powell said even though it’s hard to accept that there are many people on campus struggling, Ags REACH gives him an outlet to make change for the better. “It’s crazy to me that there is a group of people in such need here at Texas A&M, who are essentially suffering due to the decisions of the university. It gives me an avenue to give back to the university I love so much … to the people who really make it great,” Powell said. “The faculty and professors here are amazing, but the people that have the most impact on students are the people at the dining halls every day, that you talk to everyday.” For students looking for an organization with a different form of connection, the Department of Multicultural Services, or DMS, sponsors three cultural councils: Asian Presidents’ Council, Black Student Alliance Council and Hispanic Presidents’ Council.

STUDNET ORGS ON PG. 2

Starting senior season

The ring of an incoming senior, Class of 2023, on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2022.

Class of 2023 comments on upcoming senior year, goals, post graduate aspirations By Kathryn Miller @KathrynMiller0 As Texas A&M’s Class of 2023 enters its senior year, incoming seniors share the

advice they’ve learned and lessons they were taught during their college years as well as what they are anticipating most during their last academic year. Entering A&M in fall 2019, the Class of 2023’s college experience likely rivals what many were expecting when they first arrived on campus. From an extra long spring break freshman year due to the outbreak of COVID-19 to storming Kyle Field as juniors after beating Alabama, many of the

Robert O’Brien – The Battalion

Class of 2023’s experiences as A&M students prove to be memorable. Sports management senior Joshua Baynes said he is most looking forward to giving back to a community that has given a lot to him. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs in terms of navigating college through the pandemic,” Baynes said. “Pretty much every class at A&M now has been impacted by the pandemic in some way, all the way from seniors to the freshmen, so getting back to

seniors is going to mean a lot.” After he graduates next spring, Baynes said he hopes to continue his academic career. “Hopefully next year, I’m in law school,” Baynes said. “Where yet is to be determined, but hopefully at a law school somewhere with ample funding, trying to navigate the sports industry through the legal sector — that’s the goal.” As an incoming senior, Baynes said the advice he would give to his freshman year SENIORS ON PG. 4

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