Aggie culture makes students easily recognizable

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Despite the furor and the court cases, Texas A&M has grown into a diverse campus. Aggies come from around the world and every background imaginable.

No one can define what constitutes an Aggie. A&M students share a common culture, but at the same time they often have nothing in common with each other.

Though anyone who has a connection with College Station knows A&M can't be described from the inside, looking out, here are a few guidelines to help identify a true Aggies.

• If you've ever spent more time parking before class than studying for class, you might be an Aggie.

• If your campus votes over 80 percent Republican but you still thinks it's too liberal, you might be an Aggie.

• If you get more emotional over yell leader runoffs and Reveille graves than student body presidents and catalog changes, College Station is the place for you.

• If you have to change buses twice to get from your physics class to your political science class, there's a good chance you're an Aggie.

• If you get a better workout between your car and the Rec Center than you do once you're inside the Rec Center, you're probably a fightin' Texas Aggie.

• If you think the rainbow leads to West Campus and not a pot of gold, you must go to school in the Bryan-College Station metroplex.

• If a rifle salute on campus is not news but you get excited when the skiers' mound of dirt is relocated, you belong at A&M.

• If you think your university needs a law school because everybody else has one, but you think your university doesn't need cheerleaders or "the wave" because everybody else has one, you could be an Aggie.

• If you're not surprised to see otherwise well-mannered people chanting curse words at other schools' sports teams because it's part of a "yell," you just might be an Aggie.

• If you've ever missed Thanksgiving dinner with your family to watch some friends set dead trees on fire, you must be at A&M.

• If you'd rather see your sports team beat t.u. than win a national championship, you've got to be an Aggie.

• If the letters PTTS make your blood pressure rise and fill your mind with conspiracy theories, you might be an Aggie.

• If you can't understand why McDonald's doesn't deliver any longer, you could be at A&M.

• If the word "bat" brings to mind something besides New Mexican caves, you might be an Aggie.

• If you sign up for credit cards just so you can push back laundry day, you could be an A&M student.

• If you've gone to a job interview and worried more about how to present your ring than how to present your resume, you're probably an Aggie.

• If you've seen more than two U.S. Presidents on your college campus, it's a good bet you're in College Station.

• If you're not surprised when total strangers greet you as they walk past, you're probably an Aggie.

• You might be an Aggie if you own as many pairs of boots as you do ties.

• If you know how to pronounce Beutel and the word brings to mind at least two horror stories, you're an Aggie.

• If you can recite urban legends about the steam tunnels and the intended height of the library, you could be at A&M.

• If when you go to class you can tell which way the wind is blowing by which livestock you smell, welcome to the College Station campus.

• If you've ever gone to a football game just to see the band but you don't know why the other school wastes part of half-time, you could be an Aggie.

• If you use the phrase "old army" to describe anything other than your father's military experience, you're an Aggie.

Of course, Aggies may show none or all of these traits, but they all share an infinite number of other ties. Experiences at A&M are unique and memorable. Many are enjoyable, and laughter -- as well as grief, excitement or anger -- is a completely proper reaction to many of the events that help build an Aggie.

Dave Johnston is a senior mathematics major.