We Asked Students To Write a Poetic Tribute for the University’s 150th. These Were Our Favorites.

What's a more fitting way to celebrate a milestone than with a poem? This year, the Texas A&M Foundation and the Department of English invited current students to submit a piece celebrating the way that Texas A&M University has and will continue to shape the stories of countless men and women. Read the three poems that won the prize for capturing the Aggie Spirit in stanzas. 

First Place

The Bricks Still Breathe

By Maya Scott ’26

One hundred fifty years
and the bricks still breathe.

They have watched boots march across Military Walk,
watched nervous freshmen grow steadier,
watched rings settle on fingers,
golden oaths made real.

Beneath the wide Texas sky,
in the heart of Aggieland,
what was and what is stand side by side.
It is Silver Taps in the hush of night,
the roar that rises from Kyle Field,
the quiet grit of late library lights
burning past midnight.

This place remakes us.

We arrive carrying hometowns
and leave carrying one another.

We learn the weight of service,
the strength in standing shoulder to shoulder,
the way “Howdy” can mean
I see you.
You belong here.

We do not walk these paths alone.
Footsteps echo beside ours,
past and present keeping pace.

One hundred fifty years
and the story keeps unfolding
in classrooms, in clinics, in labs, in fields,
in every Aggie who dares
to become more than they were,
and more than they believed possible.
 

About Maya Scott '26

A Houston native, Maya Scott ’26 earned her degree in biomedical sciences with minors in psychology and Spanish for health professionals. She plans to attend veterinary school to become a veterinarian. Her poem was inspired by the shared experiences that connect Aggies across time and the way the university stands as a living witness to generations of students who leave transformed. When she’s not writing poetry, Scott enjoys traveling, trying new foods and finding ways to help those around her.

 

Second Place

I Am Ready

By Rebekah Draper ’29

It’s the first day of college.
My mom isn’t here to take my photo,
and my dad isn’t here to hug me goodbye.

I am thrust into a new world
feeling like an antique figurine,
that’s been knocked off its shelf
by a child playing pretend.
Yet, as I scramble to pick up the
pieces, I don’t feel grown-up anymore.

Though I grew taller,
these new buildings stare down at me.
And though I grew stronger,
the campus pulses like an ocean,
threatening to consume me.

An echo vibrates around me.
A welcoming roar
of a new world waiting for me
and of a new family that’s ready for me.

I see my future ahead of me.

I walk forward along the concrete path,
squinting at the sky.
The warm waves bathe me in the light,
and I realize,
although we are in different places,
we exist under the same sky.

I am ready.

 

About Rebekah Draper '29

Rebekah Draper ’29 is an English major from Houston and aspires to attend law school to become an education lawyer, something that combines her passions for law and teaching. Focusing on the personal transformation that happens during college, she wrote about the struggle of leaving family to attend school while emphasizing the family gained through deep friendships. As a fourth-generation Aggie, she wanted to highlight the timelessness of Texas A&M that connects today’s Aggies with those who walked the same path generations before.

 

Third Place

Strange Regalia

By Evan Rodriguez ’27

Watching Mom wear her ring
            driving us to school every morning,
keep it on after work, making food, doing laundry,
            asleep on the couch, she no longer notices
it’s part of her body, the hand she keeps gold
           making our lives worthwhile, not from four years of study
           but from trying to
           make the future
           come early.

About Evan Rodriguez '27

A San Antonio native, Evan Rodriguez ’27 is an English major with a creative writing concentration and a minor in French. He desires to pursue a career in writing, marketing or screenwriting. The theme of his poem revolves around the Aggie Ring and legacy, focusing on their purpose and the responsibilities that the two symbols prepare an Aggie for. Outside of class, he enjoys watching stand-up comedy, reading and exploring graphic design.