Zach Lewis

6/24/2017
Cultural Differences

On multiple occasions during my internship I have been questioned about my

Aggie Ring and why exactly I have one. During national training it made sense, as

some of the other interns had never been as far south as Nashville, where we were

staying, and I was happy to explain what it was all about. It usually got some

responses that demonstrated their skepticism as to the normality of the tradition,

but nonetheless I was happy to educate them. I figured once I got back to the Dallas

office things would be different. I was wrong, however, and been asked about my

ring three times while working in Texas. In all fairness, the culprits were from

Denver and Georgia, but working in Texas I would assume that they had at least

heard of an Aggie ring. On the contrary, I was asked by a Georgia native on my team

if it was a friendship ring as there are two more Aggies on the team with rings, to

which I replied, Now that you mention it, it kind of is.

I tell the story about my Aggie Ring not just because it is amusing, but

because to me it signifies a tangible culture difference between my workplace and

my college experience. I have been blown away by the amount of times a UT

graduate or intern has taken the opportunity to take a stab at A&M, despite the

complete lack of an initiation by any of the Aggies in the office. It would seem as

though the distinct sense of camaraderie that we share attracts a certain degree of

heckling, and Im not sure whether it is born out of ignorance or jealousy.

Regardless, I am more often than not left feeling different than those around me as

they exemplify different character values and ambitions, and it is summed up by the

piece of gold on my finger that isnt on theirs. The non-Aggies tend to lean more
Zach Lewis
6/24/2017
towards a level of selfish ambition that I am not used to hearing during my time at

Mays, where people seem more intent on discussing social change and non-profits.

There is also a far less discussion of family, and not many of upper management

seems too focused on making ample time for theirs. As with most things A&M, its

hard to put into words the differences between us exactly, but its almost tangible.

I left the office this Friday, having just been jokingly told my opinion didnt

matter because I was an Aggie, and headed to meet a friend who was class of 15. I

spent the evening with him and 8 other Aggies I had never met before and we went

to dinner and a movie. At dinner I looked around and realized we all had our Aggie

Rings on, and it was the first time all summer where I had been in a place where that

was the case. I couldnt help but feel like I was back home again, in the company of

friends despite the lack of familiarity with one another. Theres just something about

the Spirit of Aggieland that creates a culture in College Station that finds its way into

the people that are lucky enough to spend there college days there, and the Aggie

Ring is like a certification of that experience and understanding of one another. I

guess calling it a friendship ring isnt all that far off, and perhaps the closest

someone who hasnt been around A&M will get to understanding why we are the

way that we are.