Hello freshmen Brown Scholars!

My name is Clare Elizondo. I’m a sophomore Brown Scholar majoring in BIMS and I’m from San Antonio. I’m contacting all 31 of you today because I want to share with you this program that we’ve created for incoming Brown Scholars. This is how it works. Each one of you will be paired up with a sophomore or a junior Brown Scholar. We’ll ask that you exchange contact information so you can get to know one another before school starts. For the first 6 weeks of school, we’ll ask that you and your mentor meet up once a week. Three of these will be individual, and three will be in a group setting, in which a randomized group of four Brown Scholar mentor/mentee pairs will spend some time together, whether it be watching an Aggie volleyball game or having an intense study session in Evans during test week. That is the premise of the program, and I have attached a powerpoint describing the program in a little more detail. Our hope is that you benefit from a relationship with an older student with similar goals and work ethic while building a sense of community through the group hangouts. Your mentors will also be great resources if you have questions about classes, preparing for exams, or preparing for your career path.

Lastly, I know some of you may have some concerns, and I ‘d l ike to address a few right now. Many of you will start out with support, whether it be your fish camp, impact retreats, or friends from the Italy trip. However, I think it would be incredibly beneficial to get to know the students who make up this community of some of the brightest and most motivated students Texas A&M has to offer. Also, you may be concerned about juggling this program with academics and other organizations that you plan to join. However, this program was designed to be flexible and low on time commitment. I doubt that this program will take up more than 6 hours of your time, total. Most importantly, you are by no means forced to participate. We will understand if you’re having a stressful week and don’t have any time to meet up with your mentor or group. The sophomores and the juniors are in the exact same position and know how intense (but rewarding) college can be.

Anyway, I hope all of you are as excited about this as I and the other mentors are. In these days leading up to the start of school, you will be hearing from your Brown Scholar mentor. To make it easier for your mentor to get in contact with you, we ask that you follow the link below, enter your phone number, and edit your email address or major if either is incorrect.

The main goal of this program is to help you as you adjust to college and to facilitate relationships among the scholars, all while imposing as little time commitment and stress as possible. At the very least, you will have an older student looking out for you. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Let’s make the start of your college experience great together.

Thanks and Gig ‘Em,
Clare Elizondo
Brown Scholar, ‘ 18