MONDAY, AUGUST 20 | SERVING TEXAS A&M SINCE 1893 | © 2018 STUDENT MEDIA
Leading Ladies of Aggieland Five women exhibit the core value of leadership despite adversities and challenges
Photos by Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Left: Seniors Rose Marshall, Taylor Welch and Megan Rodriguez and sophomore Mia Miller join Reveille IX in top leadership positions on campus. Right: Senior Amy Sharp will serve as Student Body President during the 2018-2019 school year.
By Savannah Mehrtens @SJMehrtens Embodying the core values of Texas A&M, five women are ready to lead their campus and work for a greater cause in the following school year. Although they tend to different aspects of the university, each of these women fill a role in the traditions of A&M. Some worked multiple jobs to get to where they are, others worked endless hours fulfilling requirements to apply to their position, all of which was completed amongst school work and other duties. Amy Sharp, business honors and management senior and Student Body President, hopes to represent students in any way possible and worked hard to make sure she could. Sharp worked two jobs to fund her schooling and campaign during the fall semester of
her junior year, then worked one during her spring semester in the voting season. “[The campaign season] was really a crazy time because you have to pay for a campaign and I funded my campaign, and I fund my college, so it was just a tsunami of craziness but at the same time it was obviously so worth it,” Sharp said. “I learned a ton about A&M in the process and about students and what they feel about the issues on campus.” Mia Miller, nursing sophomore and Mascot Corporal in Company E-2 of the Corps of Cadets, has made history as the first woman to serve in this position. From her perspective, Miller simply wants others to view it how she does, which is that she was picked for being the best for the job and not necessarily focus on gender traditions. “It’s not about me being mascot corporal in my opinion, it’s always been about making sure Rev looks her best,” Miller said. “For
me, when I was trying out for the position I really didn’t think about ‘this is for feminism’ or anything, I was just trying to do my best and I feel like that’s what the other females in my outfit were doing too.” Although she views her role humbly, there are still positive effects that have been noticed by Miller since she has been mascot corporal. “I’ve heard several parents come up to me and be like, ‘Our daughter wants to be in E-2 one day and try her best to get Reveille too,’ so it’s exciting and really motivating for me …” Miller said. “So I think it’s cool that now other people are looking at it as an attainable goal; they can be the hander now and that’s very cool to me.” Taylor Welch, business honors and management senior and Memorial Student Center President, said she feels she is completing a string of events with regards to the MSC. “I had no idea I would ever apply to be
MSC President, I just kind of threw myself into different areas of the MSC that I cared about,” Welch said. “I was honestly just fortunate to have people in my life that encouraged me and I started to realize that this position is what would best allow me to give back to an organization that really gave me so much during my three years here so far.” In Welch’s junior year, the MSC president, Annie Carnegie, Class of 2018, helped set an example for Welch to follow. This helped make her transition to her role easier, but as all leaderships roles entail, there are still challenges for Welch to face. “I think like anything, you have to work really hard and make sure you are taken seriously but I’ve had great mentors and role models who have helped me figure out how to do that,” Welch said. LEADING LADIES ON PG. 5
HOWDY WEEK SCHEDULE MONDAY, AUG. 20 4-6 p.m. ATC Backyard Bash Student Rec Center TUESDAY, AUG. 21 3-5 p.m. Aggiefest Simpson Drill Field 5:30-7:30 p.m. GatheRing & Yell Practice Clayton W. Williams, Jr. Alumni Center WEDNESDAY, AUG. 22 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Ice Cream Carnival Kyle Field Zone Plaza 1-3 p.m. University Libraries Open House Sterling C. Evans Library 7-9 pm. MSC Aggie Cinema Movie Night Rudder Auditorium 8-11 p.m. Party on the Plaza Rudder Plaza THURSDAY, AUG. 23 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. StuAct Block Party Koldus/ Kyle Field Plazas 6:30-9 p.m. Rec-A-Palooza Student Rec Center
See the full Howdy Week schedule online at studentlife.tamu.edu/howdy-week
Publication notice: The Battalion will print on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week during the fall semester, with the exception of the first week of school. Due to the Thursday football game, The Battalion will print on Thursday, Aug. 30 rather than Friday, Aug. 31.
Meredith Seaver — THE BATTALION
Senior defensive lineman Kingsley Keke has moved from tackle to end during Fall Camp due to projected starting end Micheal Clemons’ foot injury.
Countdown to kickoff continues Football season brings new excitement with Jimbo Fisher By Alex Miller @AlexMill20 A new era is creeping up for Texas A&M football as the Aggies head into the 2018 season under new head coach Jimbo Fisher. Despite the change, there is still an old constant – a quarterback battle. For the second-straight season, Kellen Mond and Nick Starkel have been fighting for the Aggies’ starting quarterback job. Fisher said that, through last week, the two had continued to have an even rotation with the first team offense. Even though the two are compet-
ing against each other, Starkel said that’s not how he views the competition. “I’m not competing against Kellen every day,” Starkel said. “I’m competing against the defense every day. That’s my philosophy. I’m trying to get the ball in the end zone and put us in a good position to score.” Both Mond and Starkel continue to grasp Fisher’s new offense, which offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey described as a pro-style look that controls the tempo. “There are a lot of offenses out there that are throwing up huge numbers and their teams aren’t winning. And there are some great offenses out there that are scoring a lot of points, racking up a lot yards and they are winning,” Dickey said.
“That’s the thing I’ve always admired about Coach Fisher’s offense: They move the ball, they score the points, they can run the ball, throw the ball, but not at the sake of leaving the defense out on the field all day.” Under Fisher, the Aggies will aim to run the ball more. A&M returns two-year starter Trayveon Williams at running back and four starting offensive linemen. The Aggies will seek to improve their ground game production from 2017, as veteran Keaton Sutherland, who has mainly worked at right guard in Fall Camp, said the new system is fun for the O-line. “It’s just ground and pound,” Sutherland said. “That’s what we FOOTBALL ON PG. 5