First of all, big shout out to all the Jones folk that have spent some time here at A&M: Peter Coryat, Marcus Jackson, Tamara Allen, Tamika Stigers, J.R. Rodriguez, Herbert Sims, Nicole Stigers, Amber Trent, Christyn Browning, Renata Burgess-Brigham, Lloyd Craft, and Katherine Georgiou.  Jesse H. Jones High School was the complete opposite of this place, it was an experience goin through that transition.

You can skip to whatever section you wanna read about:

Freshman Year
Summer School
Sophomore Year
Junior Year
Bonfire Tragedy
Roommate from HECK
Senior Year
Senior Year Continued...

OK, let's talk on why I chose this school.  As a sophomore in high school I wanted to go to Cornell University in Ithaca New York (a very historical and important institution I learned later).  I was set on it cuz it was far from home, it offered meteorology as a major, and it had a bowling team.  LOL those were my only criteria.  Then towards the end of my junior year I realized that I can't stand cold weather, so I knew New York was outta the question.  So the next choice was the University of Texas (Shhhh don't tell anybody) but they didn't offer my major.  My major is meteorology, and at the time that I applied for college, this was the ONLY school in Texas that offered it as a major.  But I didn't wanna come here.  I looked at the University of Florida, and the University of Oklahoma.  Florida cuz, hell....it's Florida!  And Oklahoma cuz I already knew some people that went there and I was already bein recruited there.  I ended up only applying to 2 colleges, The University of Oklahoma and Texas A&M as a fall-back school.  Well I got accepted to both, and got a nice scholarship from both, so I was set on OU.  Then something screwed up plans...I got that $10,000 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship that could ONLY be used for a school in Texas, so I was stuck with A&M.  So here I am---Yeah I wasn't thrilled to come here, but I've grown to love it here.  Aggies are the largest clique in the world, all I see when I'm driving (ummm when I gotta car) is A&M stickers...there's so much school pride here.  You CAN'T walk through a parking lot on campus during the middle of the school year and go passed 5 cars without seeing some kind of A&M stuff on it, bumper or window sticker, license plate...try it!
 

I went to Fish Camp....LAWD yes I did.  For those of y'all that don't know what it is, it's like an orientation for incoming freshmen where you learn all the traditions, yells, lingo, etc. that are associated with A&M.  I thought that since I was a fish camp counselor at my high school that I knew what I was gettin in to...nah.  I remember when mom was dropping me off that fateful morning.  We were in the car approaching the drop off point and I saw all these folks wearin hawaii shirts, scuba gear, halloween outfits, with water balloons, super soakers, etc.  and I was like, "MOM TAKE ME HOME" but y'all know she wasn't havin that after she paid all that money for me to get there.  So she drops me off, and all I see around me is craziness...sheer craziness.  They point me off to my lil section that I'm with, Green Camp, Camp Sicilio: Soul Kitchen.  When I got there they were learning the camp dance or somethin, I was like...LAWD HAMMERCY...but I participated.  They ended up pulling me out to show everyone how to do it correctly. lol  Then we learned the camp yell...which I STILL remember, then we were on the bus to spend a few CRAZY dayz at camp.  And y'all know what??  I HAD A GREAT TIME!!!  Yeah there were only like 5 black folks out of the hundreds there, but it was sooo much fun.  I even met my future special. After that experience I knew I was ready for whatever A&M had in store for me.

A few dayz before school started I attended the ExCEL Conference.  It's basically an orientation for minority students.  It was cool cuz one of the fellas I went to Fish Camp was there so I wasn't like all alone or nothin.  I already knew a lot of what they were talkin about cuz of Fish Camp, but it was a NECESSARY EXPERIENCE just to be with my folks, you know?  Also to get some digits and thangz ;-)

The first day of classes was somethin.  You know how like in high school you wanna try and show your new gear those first few dayz.  So well I was thinkin I was gonna do that too.  My 1st class was at 9:10am, chem-101.  I had on this tight outfit too, all Guess.  Class let out at 10am and by the time I got back to my room, I was SOAKED in sweat.  I was like, nah this ain't even worth it, I changed in to some shorts and a t-shirt for my next class.  And that's basically what I wear to classes, t-shirts and shorts...until they are all dirty, then I go back in to my ol'closet and pull out the name brands.  All my profs were cool too...

The residence halls on campus are divided between the northside and the southside, and there's one right in the middle, they say it's southside but it ain't.  Northside pretty much has the older residence halls, and everything is more A&M-esque.  That's were most of the crazy stuff goes on.  Southside has the newer larger halls, but also are more expensive.  From most expensive to cheapest, we have the modular halls (like hotel rooms), then the commons (a lil smaller with suite style bathrooms and it's really the social hangout on campus), the balcony halls (look like motels, suite style bathroom), the corridor halls (roomy, but have community baths), and the non a/c dorms....self explanatory (suite style bathrooms), also known as the campus projects.

My roommate was a friend from high school, Herbert Sims, and we stayed in Norman G. Crocker Hall (click here to see it)on the northside.  The residents of this hall are affectionately known around campus as the Crocker Cocks.  Needless to say this is one of the rowdiest, red-azzed, maroon-blooded halls on campus.  I blamed Herbert for choosing that place. LOL  Let me give a few examples of what you will experience living there....say it's about 4am, Sunday morning, you are gettin your sleep on, then all of a sudden you here folks screamin and yellin, running down the halls, beating on your doors, and you hear the Aggie Fight Song being BLASTED on like 10 different stereos!  All this just to wake folks up that wanna go to "Cut" where they go out to the forest and chop trees down for Bonfire.  This basically goes on all through football season till Bonfire before the t.u. fottball game.  There's also somethin where they get all the freshmen, (except me and Herbert) and shave their heads and make'm roll around in the mud or somethin. Ummmm, no.  It was an experience though...no regrets, it was just cool to laugh at folks.

I quickly got involved in a few organizations, basically just to meet folks.  Which I recommend to ALL freshmen.  The black population on campus is pretty tight, I ain't sayin we all know each other, but like 95% will speak to you if they just see you walkin around.  It's cool though cuz now, like most places I go, I speak to folks in passing, when I don't, it feels weird.  Yeah I get strange looks sometimes, but hey, Aggieland was starting to have an effect on me.

Another thing I noticed is that you can't judge people on their appearances.  I mean I know people do so with me, for example...I'm walkin though campus, minding my business and this fella is comin at me from the opposite direction.  Ofcourse I'm just chillin...but he, doing all he can to stay out my way, walks his scared azz right into a bush.  Am I that intimadating?  Didn't think so.  All I could do was laugh at him, I know that probably wasn't the right thing to do in that situation, but you shoulda seen it!!!! LOL  The majority of folks here are cool though, you just can't be close minded, especially on this campus.  There was a guy who lived down the hall from me who had a Confederate Flag hangin in his room...but one day I went to go talk to him just to see where his mind was at, and when I walked in his room he was jammin Tupac!!  LOL  All you gotta do is talk to folks, and you'll learn a lot...about them...and yourself.

Tests ain't no punk in college.  Some classes are nothin but 3 tests and a final.  Not like high school where you have like 3 tests in a six week period.  My very first test was in chemistry...I thought I did pretty good.  Nothin like seein folks get their grades posted for the first time, you got folks laughin, folks yellin with excitement, folks crying...it's a sight.  I got my grade...a 64.  Alrighty then...an F...nah, just go to class the next day and you'll see you got curved up to a B.  60s aren't F's up here anywayz, they're D's.  Best case scenario, I got a 40 something on a physics test and it was curved up to a B, LOL.  But all profs don't curve so BE AWARE!

Laundry sucks....I hate doin it.  I'm known to let my laundry pile up, and I do mean pile up.  I'm talkin stacks of clothes that are my height.  Folks used to tease me sayin one day it was gonna come alive.  It's not like I didn't try though, it's just that Crocker didn't have a laundry room so I hadda walk halfway across campus (not really that far, but it seems like it when you're carryin all that clothes) to wash.  I know it's sad, but there's been times where I went to the store and bought more socks or underwear just so I wouldn't have to wash for a few more dayz.

The food on campus isn't all that bad either, there are 3 main dining centers on campus not counting the ones at the MSC.  Sbisa on the northside, The Commons had one on the southside, and Duncan for the corps.  I was told Duncan gets the best food, they pass their leftovers down to The Commons, and thos leftovers get passed on to Sbisa...actually I really like Sbisa food...call me crazy, but they're pizza and curly fries are the bomb!  The Commons has some good azz grilled cheese sandwiches though.  And cheese sticks everywhere are good.

I went to summer school that first summer, I had a private dorm room in George F. Moore Hall (click here to see it)on the northside.  It was TIGHT!!! I love summer school on campus.  The minority population jumps from like 3% to like 30% (not actual figures...just my observations).  The parties are still crunk, folks come back just for a good'ol campus or house party.  Also you see all the freshmen comin in for their New Student Conferences walkin around lookin all lost and thangz, tryin to look grown. LOL  Y'all needa stop kidding yourselves, we can smell a FISH from a mile away, just ask where stuff is, don't walk around lookin dumb. LOL  I know I was guilty of it as a freshman, but I didn't know it was THAT obvious that I was clueless, but from the point of view of an upperclassmen....we see y'all!  Ask and get it over with.  But yeah summer school is cool, the classes are very fast paced though, so you REALLY gotta go to every class or you'll be lost.  Also that summer, the only cafetaria that was open on campus was The Commons on the southside...so that was a migration just to eat.  By the time I got back to my room I was hungry again.  And PARKING!!  We can ACTUALLY PARK WHERE WE WANT TO!!  I'll probably hit summer school up again in the future.

Sophomore year I stayed in Les Appelt Hall on the southside (click here to see it).  That was a bomb azz dorm room...just expensive as hell.  My roommate was this guy named, well, I'll call him J , I won't give out all his info...he had been living in that same room for 2 years already, this was his 3rd.  He had the ceiling painted like a checkerboard, there were big holes in the wall...each with a story behind it...Overall he was a cool person, he just kept doin stuff to piss me off though.  Like smoking in the room, having his friends over and letting them all in my bed while I was gone, leave his key out so his friends could come in, change the channel when I was lookin at somethin, turn the volume ALL THE WAY up on his computer, not bathe...But like I said, other than all that, he was cool.  I stayed next door to one of my LBs, actually, out of the 6 of us, 4 of us were staying in Appelt.  So Appelt kinda turned in to our on campus Alpha House.

There was a laundry room there, so I did KINDA get better, but not really.  It sucks.

This year I'm staying in L.J. Hart Hall, CENTRAL SIDE!!!!!  (click here to see it) Yeah I'm in the projects but it's cool.  I went broke stayin in Appelt, and I realized all I do is sleep in my dorm room anywayz, so why spend a grip of money on it.  Other than no a/c, the only thing bad about it is closet space, in Appelt there were 4 closets, PER ROOMMATE, and I still had trouble finding room.  But in Hart, there's 1 FREAKIN CLOSET, for BOTH OF US!!!  I'm dyin!!!  Oh and the bathroom is a sauna, but once you overlook all that, it's kinda tight.  It would be IDEAL for one person, but it's kinda pushing it with a roommate.  And I stay on J-Ramp, which has the biggest rooms in the hall.  That's what I'm talkin about...I'm gonna try and keep this room for next year, but as a private room.  My roommate is Maco.

OK we have a laundry room in Hart, but I'm no better...I still have clothes that I've only worn once, (back in August) that I haven't gotten around to washing yet.  So basically, I've just been washing essentials.

I'm sure a lot of y'all know about what happened to the ATM Bonfire on November 18th, 1999.  Here's my account:  At 2am that morning I was just answering my last emails and decided to go ahead and jump in bed.   On Wednesday nights, I normally stay up till about 4am, cuz I don't have class Thursday till 11 somethin...but somethin told me to go ahead and go to sleep.  So I got in bed.  Precisely 28 minutes later, there was a catastrophe on the other side of campus.  At about 5am our phone rang.  I REALLY hate late night phone calls when I'm not expecting them, cuz they almost always mean some kind of bad news.  My roommate answered it.  I tried not to be nosey, but he just talks loud...I could hear some kind of distress in his voice, but I still had no clue what was goin on.  By now I heard helicopters flying over our room, but I just tuned them out.  He gets off the phone and cuts on the TV and starts flipping through the channels...then I hear it for the 1st time.  "The Aggie Bonfire has collapsed, 3 confirmed dead, 4 unaccounted for."  I roll over in my bed to see the TV and I can't believe my eyes.  I see the world famous Aggie Bonfire laying on it's side, with fire trucks, ambulances, cranes, and all kinds of emergency vehicles surrounding it.  I couldn't believe my eyes.  Then I hear another helicopter, and another.  I hear somebody in my hall shouting profanities and the sound of his door slamming.  Maco says, "I'm goin out there," and starts gettin dressed, "If anyone calls for me tell'em where I am."  I told him I was goin out there too, so we'll just let the answering machine get it.  So at about 5:30am, amidst the sounds of all the helicopters, I begin the long walk across campus to Bonfire site.  As I walk I see others heading my direction, and some coming my way.  I finally get there...and am awestruck.  There lies Bonfire...I thought.  When I got there, they already had it taped off so I really couldn't get too close, but I was close enough.  I could see maybe 2 or 300 other Aggies out there, at 5:40am.  I got this little tingle of emotion inside.  There were some sitting in circles praying, there were some holding each other, crying, there were some with the most confused look you'll ever see.  I found Maco and Odin walked around.  We stood there in disbelief.  I see the cranes taking the logs off one by one, and I wonder to myself why they are moving so slow if people are still buried under there...which was later explained, one wrong move, and the whole stack could collapse, killing those still buried in it, and possibly those helping.  I fall into prayer...and I'm not the most religious of people...but if there's any time to pray, I figured this was it.  I look up, to God, and I see helicopters....I pray.  Then I notice that the sun is rising over the horizon.  It had seemed like I'd been up forever, but the day hadn't even begun yet.  There were still millions of Aggies, parents, and friends who had no clue as to what had happened early that morning.  "Somebody's children died here tonight, and they don't even know it" I thought to myself........Then I notice a crowd gathering at one end of the site.  Will Hurd, our Student Body President is addressing the crowd.  Among other things, he tells us how important it is for us to call home to untie the phone lines.  At the end of his statement he asks if there are any questions, someone raises their hand and asks if we could all say a prayer.  Everyone bows their head...Afterwards I walk around the site one last time, then head back to my room, by now it was 7:30am.  That's when the phone calls started coming in, my friends (folks I haven't talked to in years), my relatives, Maco's friends and his relatives...I go to check my email and notice that the "Bonfire Tragedy" was already on the front page on Yahoo.  I take a lil nap...I get up to go handle some business at the MSC down in the Department of Multicultural Services, not even realizing where I was going.  All on the news they were saying how parents could come to room 145 of the MSC to find out if their children are ok.  Room 145 is right next to where I was going....so I walk down the stairs and see this crowd of people...I see people crying, and it dawns on me.  I quickly handle my business, grab a maroon and white ribbon, and head off to class, and on the way I get stopped by a reporter, and interviewed.  I was amazed at how many people saw me on TV...Later my roommate tells me about a prayer service that'll be held at Rudder fountain at 4pm, and a memorial service at 7pm.  So now I'm off to class, it's the middle of the day, and the campus seems so quiet, like a weekend.  I get to my Poly Sci class, which is a class of like 200 people, I see maybe half of them there, if that many.  It was so quiet in there it was deafening.  Nobody spoke a word.  That is the weirdest feeling, it's never even that quiet during the lectures!  The prof tells us class is cancelled, so I head to Rudder fountain, it's about 4:05pm, and when I get there, there's a sea of Aggies, most of them sitting down holding hands, the ones at the perimeter were all standing.  All was quiet.  It was a moment of silence.  I look around and see the grief in everyone's face.  I pay my respects and head to my room and cut the TV on.  They are showing the prayer service live.  On TV I hear that the crowd had just broken in to "Amazing Grace," so I cut down the volume and open my window, and listen to it, coming from their mouths, and their hearts.  My phone is still ringing off the hook, as I keep getting calls from folks I haven't heard from since forever.  7pm finally rolls around and I head out to Reed Arena.  I knew that the AKAs and some of my bruhs would be there, but trying to find them in that crowd was impossible.  Then there was the announcement that they were about to close the doors, the Arena couldn't hold everybody, so I finally went in.  It was weird walking in there, and looking behind me seeing that they had closed the doors on so many people, but I guess all they needed was some kind of fire hazard.  As people found seats, they let more and more people in, but I think most of the traffic was directed elsewhere, to see it live on a large screen.  I saw somebody I know, and sat next to her, there were no seats, so I was sitting in the aisle on the stairs, on the very back row.  She told me she should've brought some tissue cuz she knew she was gonna cry, I told her she'd be aiight.  As we talked waiting on the service to begin, she told me that she was out there at the site at 2:30am cuz she had just finished some work in the computer lab, and she described the chaos.  She told me how everyone was out there helping, together.  The football players, greeks, boys, girls, everybody...all trying to get those logs out the way.  Then the service started.  Y'all know I'm really not an emotional person, so I really wasn't expecting too much...but as the program went on, time after time, my eyes would water up...and I just couldn't believe it.  I didn't even know these 11 people that had lost their lives (there were 11 then).  I had never met them, but yet and still, I was getting all misty eyed.  Then I lost it...I just couldn't hold it in anymore...I was crying...and crying hard.  They always talk about the "Spirit of Aggieland" but I guess it really hit me for the first time that night.  I was sitting there on the stairs, my arms folded across my knees, and my head resting on them...crying my eyes out.  Then I felt a hand on my back, and that just made the tears fall even more.  After the service, all was silent, everyone was standing...and all of a sudden I see some commotion down on the ground level.  I see that everyone is putting their arms around each other's shoulders.  Within seconds, everyone in the arena had their arms around each other's shoulders...like one big hug.  All was silent yet again...then I heard one voice humming "Amazing Grace," then another, then the entire arena was singing it.  And that was it...I walked out...and broke down again.  I haven't cried like that in years...but I guess it's all to say, I'm an Aggie...and damn proud of it.

OK right before the end of the fall semester I changed my major to journalism.  I got back up here and the day before classes I'm looking up my schedule to make sure about my class locations and times.  Tell me why my schedule was completely erased.  Come to find out the College of Geosciences had a block on me.  Now I'm like how can y'all put a block on me when I'm not even in your school anymore??  Anywayz I go to my NEW dean and he calls Geosciences and they say they will take the block off of me, this is Monday.  My dean says just keep checking the system, once the block is off you can register again.  Tuesday comes...still blocked...Wednesday...still blocked...Thursday...still blocked...classes goin on ALL this time.  I go back to my new dean Friday morning and he's as puzzled as me.  He calls Geosciences, and they're like, "Ooops we forgot,"  I coulda killed somebody.  So I FINALLY get to register, a whole week after classes started...had to pay late registration fees...so College of Geosciences??  Ummm...bite me.

Aiight, the plan was that for the Spring Semester Maco would move out and get his own private room and I would stay in the same room, and have it to myself.  All through Christmas Break I couldn't wait to get back up here to my PRIVATE room.  The day finally comes, I open the door and see a computer on Maco's desk.  Maco didn't have a computer, but I think to myself, "He did say he was gettin one for Christmas," so I brush it off.  I look around and notice some Star Trek Ship thing hangin from the ceilin and I'm like, "ummm ok."  I notice all these lil Star Trek posters and paraphernalia and I'm like, "Maco done went crazy."  You see his ironing board, and fridge were still here so I figured he was still my roommate.  A few dayz later I'm still unpacking and there's still no sign of Maco, but I hear some keys at the door.  It opens and in comes some fella I've NEVER seen before.  I say, "Whassup man" as he walks in, he says nothin.  I'm thinkin, aiight it's like that huh.  A few hours later he FINALLY says somethin to me.   I got stuck with him because there were too many transfer students coming in for the Spring.  There was NO room for him anywhere else, so they put him with me.  Maco even ended up roomin with somebody.  The next few weeks were filled with events to make me not like this fella.   I don't know why people just don't wanna give me my messages.  But the MAIN thing I wanna tell you about is when he had his girlfriend up here.  She came up on a Friday, I just HAD to see what kinda girl would be with a fella like this.  NOT a pretty couple.   She was cool though, at least she would talk to me.  Well anywayz I'm sittin at this computer and they are all snuggled up in bed talkin about Microsoft, and hitech databases, and sci-fi stuff.  I'm like LAWD!!  They gettin all hot and bothered talkin about this mess...Anywayz I give'em some privacy, but come back to go to sleep.  I'm awoken in the morning to the bed shaking (we have bunk beds, I'm on top).  Immediately I remember the hideous couple beneath me.  I start hearing all these sounds, you know, them sex sounds.  I was feelin nautious, literally.  I mean I could hear EVERYTHING, and they were....umm...doin some stuff.  I'm like, "No these nasty, freaky, nerds are NOT up under me fornicating!!"  Y'all my stomach was hurting for real.  Then I hear him say, "I don't have any condoms," and I'm like YES!  Then she says, "I do," and I'm like NOOOOOO!  So there's a break in the freakin and I hear them walkin around the room.  I'm guessin they grab one, then they head to the shower and get busy in there.  I get up and start cuttin my hair, all the while hearing gigglin and moanin...just picturing these two...unpretty folks freakin in the shower...stomach just in all kinds of pain...They stay in there for over an hour, and when they finally get out I just look at'em like ewwwwww.  She comes out first, lookin all sexed, she grabs somethin from her bag then goes back in there, then a few minutes later they both come out.  They get dressed and leave, and I'm stuck with deciding if I should wash all this hair off of me in that decrepit shower, or not.  I do...stomach just hurtin...OK That whole week I stay outta my room as much as I could tryin to come up with the proper way to tell his azz that he is nasty.  Just when I figure it out, she's in my room again, she comes in on a Thursday this time.  I grab my stuff and leave.  I come back Saturday though, to her naked azz sittin on him in bed.  I take a deep breath but at that moment decide that this is MY room too, I mean it was mine before he even came here, so he won't run me out.  So I just sit my happy tail at my desk and go about my business.  He holds up a sheet so she can get dressed.  I go to bed.  The next morning, I'm awoken by what?  The bed shaking.  FORNICATION ALL UNDER ME!  Again they go to the shower, and that's when I get up, and make my way out of the room.  I was so pissed I was shaking.  That night I was gonna confront him about it, but when I went back to my room I hear him in the restroom throwing up.  He comes out lookin like a mess and tells me he's not feelin well.  I'm like ok what you want me to do about it (I didn't say that outloud though).  So the next few dayz he's sick, just spreadin germs all in my room so again I'm on the go, stayin everywhere BUT my room.  Tuesday he finds out he has mono (the kissing disease).  He went home that Thursday, March 2 sayin he would be back Monday.  He wasn't.  That Thursday he called sayin he'd be back after Spring Break.  He wasn't.  Then on Wednesday after the break, he comes up here sayin he's withdrawing from the university.  I can hardly keep my enthusiasm to myself.  See, I kept myself from bein ugly about the situation , and he STILL has to pay for bein nasty.  Keepin a cool head works...So to wrap this up, payback is a sonofasomethin ain't it?  And I STILL got my room to myself!!!