Approximately 70% of Brown Scholars pursue majors in the College of Engineering and the remaining 30% pursue majors in the Colleges of Science, Ag Life and Veterinary Medicine and Business.
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Dear Mr. Craig Brown,
Wow, it sure is amazing how the time flies by. It seems like just yesterday I was a wide-eyed freshman moving onto campus for the first, with no idea what to expect out of my experience at A&M. Now with two years at A&M under my belt, I have already experienced so much.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to study abroad in Spain, and I absolutely loved every moment of it. We got the chance to travel all across the country and truly experience the Spanish culture. One of my favorite moments of the trip was during our stay in Barcelona, when we toured La Sagrada Familia. Art critic Rainer Zerbst said “it is probably impossible to find a church building anything like it in the entire history of art”, and that is probably the best way to explain its grandeur.
I have continued to fulfill my passion for music. I am still a member of the Wind Symphony, the top concert band here at A&M.This year we have been accepted to play at the prestigious Western International Band Clinic in Seattle later in November. After this school year, we will also be touring across Italy, playing in concerts with many other international bands. I am so excited for both of these trips! I am also still a member of the Percussion Studio at A&M,and I have taken a larger role within the organization, taking on more responsibility as an upperclassman.
My interest in research has continued as well. Though the initial water reclamation project you helped me join has since been disbanded due to lack of funds, I have found a new project to work on. I am continuing my research project from the summer, working with. Dr. Radovic in the Mechanical Engineering Department. A grad student and I are currently researching piezoelectric material processing.
Now that I am in my third year’ of classes at A&M, I am truly starting to be intellectually challenged each and every day. The classes and very interesting and directly pertain to the fields of work that I would like to pursue in the near future.
I would like to once again thank you for all the opportunities you have afforded me here at A&M.I look forward to seeing you soon at the scholarship banquet.
Eternally grateful,
Alexander Jang
TAMUClass of 2014
My name is Ali El-Halwagi and I am a senior chemical engineering major at Texas A&M. Ms. Matthews from the Brown Foundation gave me your information and I wanted to share with you why I recommend A&M’s Department of Chemical Engineering. I remember meeting with Mr. Brown my senior year of high school, still unsure whether I would join A&M or UT. Mr. Brown spoke for 45 minutes or so about why he loved A&M (as you well know). Aside from his passion, Mr. Brown gave many reasons as to why I should attend A&M. First of all, A&M has a very strong academic program, especially in engineering. Statistically, A&M has one of the strongest chemical engineering programs in the country. And the faculty here are truly dedicated to their students. The professors have an open door policy and encourage all of the students to meet and chat with them. Additionally, the curriculum here is a great blend of practical and theoretical information. In fact, most faculty provide the theory behind the information and then discuss its applicability in “the real world”. This teaching style is unique because most universities are focused on theoretical teaching only. Moreover, the TAMU Department of Chemical Engineering prides itself on all of the opportunities its graduating seniors have. Graduating seniors enter a variety of fields, including nearly all industries, graduate school, medical school (my future), and even law school. And the A&M network is second to none.
I am glad Mr. Brown convinced me to join A&M. Having Mr. Brown as a guiding mentor and a caring donor is priceless.
Ali El-Halwagi
Dear Mr. Brown,
Now that things have gotten settled in for school, I wanted to formally thank you for your unbelievable generosity in my life. Certainly, my education, experiences, and friendships here at A&M have been some of the most important and fulfilling of my life. However, the past summer was truly an experience beyond measure. From my enlightening work with the Chinese students in Tianjin to the hospitality and challenge I experienced in my internship with Bray, I gained invaluable insight into Chinese culture as well as into my own goals and perspective in life. As a small, insufficient token of my appreciation, I would like to offer you these gifts.
While Tibet was unfortunately all but closed to foreign tourists, I had wonderful experiences in the nearby Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. In the mountains of Yunnan, there is a small, rural town formerly called Zhongdian (now Shangria to promote tourism). While there, I found some amazing Tibetan handcrafts. In an effort to combat the factory produced souvenir market in China, a group of Tibetans in and near Zhongdian have partnered together to offer visitors authentic, hand-made goods. I have included one of their brochures if you’re interested in learning more about them. The first is a canvas painting for your office; the staff there told me The Master, an old Tibetan man who only visits Zhongdian only once a year, had just completed the piece. Additionally, I found a small, painted pot that I hope Ms. Matthews will enjoy.
Finally, upon my return to the United States, I immediately left to attend my cousin’s wedding in Mexico, specifically in the city Tequisquiapan. This small town is home to both Mexicans and various indigenous people; they have a great deal of their own history and culture that they love to share with guests through tours, shows, and markets. As a contrast to the Tibetan handcrafts, I hope you will like this copper pot. It was molded and stained by a man in Tequisquiapan; he then hammered silver into his craftwork to create a more elaborate piece.
Again, Mr. Brown, thank you so much for this incredible opportunity. I learned so much about myself, my view of the world, and people in general through this trip. It was truly a positive experience that will affect me for the rest of my life. These gifts can’t begin to express my gratitude or fulfill my debt to you. You have sincerelv changed my life for the better, and I can think of no greater gift a person can give. I hope all is well with you, your family, and Ms. Matthews. I look forward to seeing you at the dinner in October.
Sincerely,
Andrew Sanchez
Dear Mr. Brown,
I am writing to give you an update of my activities this spring. Most importantly, I’m excited to tell you that I was accepted into the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine for Fall 2013 entry.
Thank you so much for your support over these three years. I know I couldn’t have achieved this dream without your help, both financially and emotionally. Your faith in me has been a big factor in my ability to succeed in college. I often think back to my interview three years ago, when your pride in Texas A&M reinforced my fervent love for the Aggie way of life.
Without you and Ms. Matthews, I literally would not have had as strong of an application. Your recommendation carries a lot of weight, and I was honored to have such a good work on my behalf from you. Both you and Ms, Matthews helped me ay every stage of the process, and I cannot thank you enough for your contributions.
Having just come back from spring break to Aggieland, I realized how much I have come to consider it home. Without your help, I may not have been able to come here at all. Now, thanks to your support through my undergraduate career, I am able to stay here for another four years to complete my DVM degree.
Thank you so much,
Beverly Finneburgh
Dear Mr. Brown,
I just wanted to take the time to thank you for all of the opportunities you have provided me through the Brown Scholarship. After finishing my sophomore year, I look back and I am amazed at all of the things I have been able to experience and I am excited about what the coming years have in store. Your generosity has opened several doors to me, and I am so thankful. I hope you have a fantastic summer and I look forward to seeing you in the fall!
Sincerely,
Brandon Goddard
Dear Mr. Brown,
I would like to thank you again for your generous contribution to my education at Texas A&M.Your assistance and encouragement have greatly enhanced my experience over the past two years.
I am now a junior Computer Science major. Now that I have gotten all my lower level courses out of the way, I have started taking more advanced technical electives, such as Operating Systems and Computer Graphics, as well as starting a concentration area program in Business. I am still active in a variety of sports clubs, and hope to become a member of the racquetball club tournament team. I am also a member of several professional societies, including the Texas A&M Computing Society.
This summer, I worked as an intern for TRACLabs, Inc., a small research company in Houston, where I developed a web application for viewing and executing automatable procedures. The software I developed has potential applications in NASAand varied industries, including offshore drilling and international shipping. I had a great time and learned a lot in that experience, and hope to find a similarly enriching position next summer.
Thanks in part to your generous financial assistance, I am now halfway through my undergraduate education, and have had an extremely successful first two years. I am looking forward to the remainder of my education. I am very grateful for everything that you have done for me, and I look forward to seeing you and the other Brown scholars at the Foundation dinner next month.
Sincerely,
Brian Lemke Class of 2014
Dear Mr. Brown,
Howdy! I hope everything is going well. At the Brown Foundation dinner last year you mentioned that you would be interested in reading the abstracts that I was going to present at the Orthopedic Research Society in March. Unfortunately, I was not able to distribute them until after the conference, but I have attached them to this email. I am actually interning at the same company this year and have been writing the manuscripts for those same research projects to submit to journals for publication.
I also wanted to express how much I appreciate all of the opportunities you have provided for me through your financial support of my education. I am so proud to be a Brown Scholar and part of the Aggie family. Meeting with you during my senior year of high school and hearing about how passionate you were about Texas A&M was definitely a big part of why I decided to make College Station my home for four years. I can’t wait to see you again at the Brown Foundation dinner this fall.
Gig ‘Em!
Christina Schmidt
Class of 2015
Mr. Brown,
As the foundation dinner approaches, I just want to let you know again how thankful I am for your help with my college career, both directly and indirectly. The opportunities I have been afforded by your generosity are too many to count. To catch you up on what I have been doing: I spent my summer living in a trailer outside of Seminole, TX, and working in an oil field. Going from living in Houston and College Station my entire life to the rural expanse of west Texas was one of the biggest culture shocks I have ever had, and I could not have had more fun. My experience in working and making many new connections has made me even more grateful to attend this university, and I want to emphasize what a major role you have played in my experience here and my gratitude towards you.
School has been going great so far this semester as well. I had the privledge to participate in the mentorship program with other Brown Scholars. Through the program I was able to meet several scholars my own age I had not known before, and give my own advice to new students here. I enjoyed the program very much and look forward to seeing it grow in coming years. As the first round of exams wrap up, I look forward to seeing you, Pam, and the rest of the Brown Scholars at our dinner on Friday.
Thanks and Gig ‘Em
Connor Knight
Hi Mr. Brown,
I would like to thank you for your continued support through the Brown Foundation scholarship. This scholarship, along with other generous scholarships from A&M, has provided me with the freedom to make choices and pursue my interests without money being a limiting factor. For instance, I will be spending 6 weeks this summer living with a host family in Singapore and volunteering at Singapore Polytechnic University. I have always wanted to live abroad and thanks to a lack of financial constraints I can freely do just that.
Best Regards,
Eric Redondo
Dear Mr. Brown,
I would like to sincerely thank you for your generosity in selecting me to receive a Brown Foundation scholarship. I hope to maintain the standards and character that allowed me to receive this award throughout my college career and beyond.
I am a freshman chemical engineering major from Batesville, Indiana. Choosing a school 21 hours away from my home was not what I originally had in mind when it came to college, and when my mom suggested I visit A&M, I was determined to not like the university. Luckily I changed my mind. The overwhelming atmosphere of friendliness, honor, and respect was beyond what I thought possible and provided a sharp contrast with other schools I had visited. Now that I’ve spent a month here at A&M, I am sure that I have made the best choice, and that A&M is the honestly the greatest university in the world. I have had endless opportunities to meet wonderful people everywhere I go starting from day one at Fish Camp, and have been blessed with acceptance into a Freshman Leadership Organization that will allow me to make friends with similar values and interests in community service and leadership.
I love math and science and have a knack from problem solving, so I thought engineering would be a good choice. I’ve been hearing all the horror stories about how difficult it becomes, but I am confident that I will be able to maintain the work ethic and emphasis on academics necessary to receive an engineering degree from A&M, which everyday becomes more valuable. The reputation of the engineering program here is not without warrant, as I have been extremely impressed with the curriculum and faculty thus far. The support and generosity of donors such as yourself made it possible for me to attend A&M, and thus you are responsible for all that I achieve here. I am looking forward to being able to meet you again at the banquet and thanking you in person. Thanks and Gig ‘Em!
Sincerely,
Evan Wilson
Class of 2016
Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you so much for the scholarship for the 2012-13 school year. I can never thank you enough for all you have done for me, and not just financially. As a donor, you have not just been a faceless paycheck, but a caring mentor that is genuinely interested in my successes inside and outside the classroom. I always look forward to getting together with you, and you have inspired me to, when I have the means, to sponsor students with scholarships in the future. Thanks to your donation, I posted a 3.67 GPR in addition to hectic spring semester.
I continue to be very involved outside the classroom as well. I am still a proud member of the Corps of Cadets, Parson’s Mounted Cavalry, and the Biomedical Engineering Society. Also, I have the privilege of being selected as one of the senior Yell leaders this year. It has been a blessing and a honor, and I can thank you for allowing this opportunity to happen.
Thank you once again for your support and for being such a great role model for all Aggies. I will not be able to make the Brown Foundation dinner in October due to midnight yell in Shreveport, but I would love to meet with you again.
Thanks, God bless, and Gig ‘Em,
Hunter Skoog
Class of 2013
Corps of Cadets Company E-1
Senior Yell Leader
Dear Mr. Craig Brown,
Howdy! I would like to thank you once again for your generous contribution to my education in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Texas A&M University.
I am now a junior Computer Engineering-Computer Science major, graduating in May 2014, with minors in Math and Psychology. I serve as Vice-President for the computer science honor society Upsilon Pi Epsilon, participate in Aggie Women in Computer Science, volunteer for the computer science department on a regular basis, and perform statistical research and analysis for Dr. Jeff Froyd under Engineering Student Services and Academic Programs (ESSAP).
During the summer of 2012, I interned at Microsoft working on the SQLServer team. Working as an Explorer Intern was one of the best experiences ever, and I made many good friends in Redmond. I also learned to drive and earned enough money to buy my first car.
I am still very much enjoying my time at Texas A&M University because I love the Aggie family, the traditions, and the enveloping sense of community it affords. The friends I have made here while furthering my education under passionate professors validate my choice to study here every day. Yesterday, I was proud to join several of my fellow Brown scholars in getting our Aggie Rings together.
This scholarship is an immense help to me, since I am paying my way through school by myself with a combination of scholarships, loans, part-time work, and summer internships. Plus, the emotional support and encouragement you and Ms. Pam offer is priceless in helping motivate me to continue to excel in my studies.
Thank you very much for the scholarship, I assure you I will work hard to deserve it. I look forward to seeing you at the Brown Foundation Banquet
Yours,
Janice Rosado
Dear Mr. Brown,
I just wanted to take an opportunity to say thank you. The past two years of my life have been absolutely incredible and it really is all thanks to you. Aggieland was about the last place I wanted to be my senior year, mostly because my brother’s here and I didn’t want to seem like I was just following him; it’s because of you that I decided on Texas A&M and it was one of the best choices I’ve ever made. You made me an offer I couldn’t refuse and you made the decision to come here the only sensible one. Also, because of you I’ve been able to focus so much more on my school work than on worrying about money, and that’s helped me so much with my studies and with getting involved.
I also wanted to give you a bit-of an update on my life. I’m still a part of Alpha Phi Omega and do a good amount of volunteer work through them, however I’m thinking about joining Habitat for Humanity and focusing more on that this semester. I really enjoy building things and working with my hands, and a large number of my friends are involved, so I feel like it would be a good fit for me. Spring of last year I got a research job in a lab under one of my professors (Mark Holtzapple) doing biofuel research. I specifically work on researching the use of shock waves to break down biomass; , find it really interesting and I love working there. , spent the summer here taking classes, carrying out research, and doing fish camp. Being a counselor was an amazing experience. I absolutely love my camp and my freshmen are awesome; I feel like I’ve helped them adjust we” and I’m definitely going to try to be a counselor again if I’m at all able to. I was also a counselor for the National Scholars Invitational which aims at recruiting high achieving students going into their senior year. It kind of reminds me of how you “recruited” me. I greatly-enjoyed being a counselor and I’m planning on doing some more events to help with recruitment this coming semester. I’m still a member of Honors Student Council, Phi Eta Sigma, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and a few honors societies (although those societies don’t require too much participation). I spent this last week at the career fair trying to find an internship or co-op, and I’ve already had a few interviews so hopefully I’ll have some experience this time next year. As you can see, I’ve been keeping busy, especially when coupled with an engineering degree.
Again, thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me Mr. Brown. You’re an incredible man and you’ve made such a huge contribution to my life, I can’t say it enough. I can’t wait to see you in person and catch up some at the reception. Thanks and Gig ’em!
Sincerely,
John Barth
Dear Mr. Brown,
It’s thank-you letter week here at A&M, and I would like to take this opportunity to give you a little update on how I’m doing. I’m just about to start my fifth week, and I’m having a wonderful time. All of my professors and TAs are great, so I can’t help but enjoy my classes. I’ve been to my first two Aggie football games, one with a much more uplifting final result than the other, I’ve experienced Midnight Yell and Silver Taps, and I’ve found my A&M home away from home in the Student Recreation Center. Between these and other activities, including those related to University Honors, there is almost never a dull moment for me here in College Station.
The honors community has greatly helped me with my transition into college. The sense of family within the honors program and within A&M in general has made adapting to the extraordinary change that college brings easy. In addition to my involvement in honors, I’m also trying to become active in other student organizations. I joined the Texas A&M Sports Analytics Group, a fairly new organization that explores trends in sports through statistical analysis. I am also one of the newest members of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. I have enjoyed the first few speaker events put on by ASME, including the one at which Bray presented. I am extremely happy at A&M. Thank you so much for choosing me to be a recipient of the Brown Foundation Scholarship! My receiving of your scholarship was what ultimately tipped the balance of my choice of college in A&M’s favor. Now that I am here, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you so much for your generosity! You have truly changed my life and the lives of many others.
Sincerely,
Jon Paul Elizondo
Class of 2016
Dear Mr. Brown,
As I begin my senior year, I reflect on how great my time at Texas A&M has been. It has been, and probably always will be the most amazing years of my life. As I have told you several times, without your generosity, interest in me, and passion for the university, I would not have had this experience. I would have gone to UT and I can say with confidence that coming to A&M instead has been the single best decision I have made in my life. The opportunities I have had were unimaginable to me as a senior in high school. I can’t thank you enough for helping me to realize these.
This past summuer I was a drilling intern at BHP Billiton. I am sorry we didn’t get a chance to have lunch – you are out of the country quite a bit! Maybe we will have the chance to next summer, as I am going back to do a reservoir internship with BHP. My future plans are to go on to get an engineering PhD after I graduate. I am applying for Rhodes and Marshall as well which would give me the outstanding opportunity to study in the UK. Currently, I am serving as Vice President of the Texas A&M chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, I am also currently working on a senior thesis. Your generous sponsorship will help me to focus on these activities rather than worrying about money during my senior year. Thanks again for your support.
I look forward to seeing you next month at the dinner. My parents are excited to join us.
Sincerely yours,
Justin Montgomery
Dear Mr. Brown,
As I prepare to graduate in the next month, I’m taking a moment to reflect back on the last four years at Texas A&M. I think spend the next few weeks searching for where the time went. I cannot believe my time as a student in Aggieland is coming to a close. These have been some of the happiest years of my life, and I consider myself richly blessed to have had the opportunity to attend TAMU.
This semester has certainly been a busy one. I was accepted to each of the physical therapy programs I applied to, and was able to accept an offer from my top choice. I will graduate in May, and then turn around a few weeks later and start PT school at the beginning of June. I will be attending Texas State in San Marcos. I’m excited to be a little closer to home, and to be in a part of the state with so many opportunities for outdoor activities. The comfort that comes with knowing I don’t have a mountain of debt to pay back from my undergraduate schooling is so comforting – I cannot thank you enough for your generosity. Even more, I will be forever thankful to you for believing in me and my dreams.
During my first ever Brown Foundation banquet, I will admit that I was a little intimidated to be surrounded by a room full of engineering students. The love that I felt from you and Pam, and the support you had of my degree and future career plans (even when I didn’t always feel that support from my family) really helped to remind me that I needed to stick with learning what I loved. I cannot imagine my life on a different career path now, and I will never forget the unwavering love I felt from you and your staff, especially during those first few months of school.
I’ve also been very blessed by your generosity to have the opportunity to give back to the university I love. I’ve worked to develop and direct a new FLO in the College of Education and Human Development, and have just handed over control to the upcoming executive director. I’ve served as chair of the CEHD Undergraduate Student Council for the past 2.5 years, and am in the process of training the new chair for the 2014-2015 school year. I just wrapped up my term of service on the Dean’s Selection Committee in the College of Education and Human Development.
I’ve also worked with university-wide groups like the National Aggie Scholar Ambassadors and the Undergraduate Research Ambassadors to recruit rockstar students to come to A&M and to get them involved in research opportunities once they make it to campus. I will be published in the next edition of Explorations, the TAMU undergraduate research journal, and my undergraduate thesis is in the A&M archives waiting to become a part of a doctoral candidate’s manuscript. I’ve presented my research all across the state, and won many awards based off those presentations.
In May, I will be traveling to Orlando to compete against other health and kinesiology students accross the nation at the annual American College of Sports Medicine conference. I was team captain of the group that won the Texas Regional competition, answering jeopardy-style questions about anatomy, physiology, exercise prescription, nutrition, and chronic diseases.
This Semester, I completes a 13-week internship at a private practice physical therapy clinic in College Station. I had the incredible opportunity to work one-on-one with patients, and was in charge of operating our Wellness Program. Additionally, I gained invaluable exposure to the insurance and billing practices necessary to operate a private clinic. In Pleasanton, the healthcare options available are unfortunately subpar at best. I know have valuable training that I have the ability to implement if I one day decide to open a clinic and give back to the community that worked so hard to raise me. It has been a wonderful experience, and has definitely confirmed my desire to go into the field of physical therapy.
Being on my internship meant that I didn’t have as many opportunities as I would have liked to make it up to campus. Because of that, it made those trips so much sweeter. This university has made an impact on my life that I cannot even put into words. Thank you so much for your work to bring me here. As you know, I cannot pay this debt back. My only hope is that one day, I will have the opportunity to pay forward even a portion of what you’ve given me. Thank you so much.
With Gratitude,
Katie Elmer
Class of 2014
Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you for everything you have done for me. From your amazing scholarship offer to your correspondence with the honors department on my behalf, you have shown great generosity. I have spent the last two months considering my college options and am excited to say I have decided on A&M! I can’t wait to join the aggie family next fall and I hope I represent the foundation well.
Best wishes and thanks again,
Mason DeCock
Mr. Craig Brown,
Thank you so much for another year of the Brown Scholarship! Last year as a freshman, I couldn’t truly appreciate the gift you’ve given me because I had barely started attended Texas A&M. However, after a full year I couldn’t be more excited to be an Aggie, and even more, a Brown Scholar. The gift that you have given me has made an enormous difference in my life.
Just to give you an update, I had a very busy freshman year. As a member of the Pre-Law Society, I competed with the Moot Court team. Moot Court, if you aren’t familiar with it, is a form of appellate debate where two partners present their case to either uphold or overturn a Supreme Court ruling. As a freshman, I only attended one tournament, but my partner and I were very excited to make it to finals. Along the same vein, I worked as an intern at the Hernandez Law Firm. I was able to gain some experience for both my law school aspirations and for a real world application of my Spanish minor.
While I’m still hoping to attend law school, I discovered a new interest in education policy through a research project with Dr. Ken Meier from the Political Science department. With Dr. Meier’s advising, I am now researching state’s reactions to No Child Left Behind. I’m specifically looking at how Maryland and Massachusetts achieved their high rankings- and I’m hoping to find a way to extend their success to other states. Along my focused interest in public policy, I’ve decided to focus on the Wiley Lecture Series this year. I’m very excited about the becoming more involved in the new MSC and molding such an important part of student activities. I have also revived an old interest by joining the Gymnastics club. As you already know, I’m also working with Zach on the Liberal Arts Advisory Committee. We’ve gotten off to a great start and I’m helping organize several recruitment lunches for high school seniors this fall.
Overall,my interests since freshman year have changed in some pretty significant ways, but I’m still a Political Science major with a minor in Spanish. This year I’ll be applying for the dual-degree program with the Bush School for a Master of Public Service and Administration. Whether I decide to attend law school or pursue my education policy interest with a PhD program, I couldn’t be more excited to be at Texas A&M!
Thanks and Gig ‘Em,
Megan Mumford
Howdy Mr. Brown,
A little less than a year ago, I was sitting in your office doing the interview for the scholarship and talking to you about A&M. Now, I’m in my dorm here and I can’t thank you enough for both your Foundation’s generosity and also for talking me into coming here! So far, my freshman year has been amazing. I’ve made a lot of great friends and my classes are challenging, but still entertaining. Honestly, my decision to come here was greatly influences by my time with you and also this scholarship. Thank you so much for every opportunity you have given me!
Sincerely,
Minda Wei
Dear Mr. Brown,
I enjoyed meeting you and getting to know more about you and your family during my recent visit to Bray Controls. The history of the Brown Foundation, and its remarkable record of philanthropy is very impressive. The fact that you and your father created this scholarship fund and maintained it from the profits of your own business is an inspirational example of giving back to your community.
Thank you for the advice you gave me, both in your article and in my interview. I hope to make use of it throughout my life. Thank you for sharing your personal story with me and for giving me the opportunity to share the parts of my own with you, and for enabling me to become more than just a profile created on paper. One of the things I appreciate most about the Brown Foundation was the fact that it gave the students a chance to really be more than just statistics, achievements, or community service hours. This is unique among scholarship and college applications, and it gave me the impression that you really were concerned on a personal level for the students you select.
Thank you forr offering me a Brown Scholarship. I am honored to have the opportunity to represent the Brown Foundation as a student at Texas A&M, and I hope to stay connected with you for many years to come. Once again, thank you for the interest you have shown in my life and the lives of many other young people at A&M.
Very sincerely,
Sam Alders
Dear Mr. Brown,
I cannot thank you enough not just for your immense support of my education, but also for the enthusiasm with which you encouraged me to go to A&M. Every day, I am grateful that I met you and that I am attending this outstanding university! This school year is really exciting for me. I am taking the typical 3rd year mechanical engineering courses – fluid mechanics, and dynamics – but I am also taking advances business German, orchestra, and several research credits under my former thermodynamics professor, Dr. Timothy Jacobs, who runs the Advanced Engine Research Lab here on campus. I am most eager to begin a long-term, multiple semester research project, because I think that will be a good trial run for grad school, in many ways. This semester I will study the relationship between maximum brake torque and different burns of fuel and air in diesel engines, and I will begin a thesis to be completed at the end of next semester.
Additionally, your support helped me afford an incredible opportunity this summer: I studied abroad in Bonn, Germany, which was a life changing experience. I had the opportunity to greatly improve my language skills and to learn about history and culture, but more importantly, my interactions with native Germans benefited my confidence and calmness in the face of new challenging circumstances. Because I am interested in a career in the automotive industry, which has many major players in Germany, I believe both German language skills and my improved confidence in general will help me achieve my goals. To this end, I am completing the courses for both the International Engineering Certificate and German minor.
While the buildings, landscaping, facilities like computer labs, and quality dining choices are all wonderful, the best part of my education at A&M has been the professors. It is really important to me that professors care that I learn the material, strive to engage with students, and make themselves available to provide help or mentorship outside the classroom. I feel truly lucky to see my old favorite professors around campus, to have new professors who want me to succeed, and to have mentors with whom I can discuss my academics and my future. Because of the wealth of knowledge and the wonderful educators which you have made available to me, I am so grateful to you. I am thankful to continue my education with your support, and I look forward to seeing you at the banquet this fall!
Thank you,
Tim Kroeger
Class of 2015
Dear Mr. Brown,
Thank you once again for the generous scholarship you have blessed me with. I often look back to my senior year of high school when I visited your office and you took the time to talk to me about what it means to be a Texas Aggie and a Brown Scholar. In retrospect, I can see there is no other university that I would be happier at than Texas A&M. My time here has been incredible and invaluable; I am very thankful for that meeting in your office almost four years ago.
I would like to tell you of my plans for the future. This year, I am on the Big Event Committee once again. I hope to be able to help the Big Event to grow even larger and to make an even greater impact on he Bryan-College Station Community. In addition, I have been invited to apply for Business Fellows; I believe that a semester in the Fellows program will give me insight into the consulting and management world. The summer after I graduate, I will be going back for a second summer internship with Microsoft in Seattle. I will be working on their Machine Learning team, which I am very excited about. I am currently in the process of applying for grad schools, as I am planning to pursue a Master’s degree in Computer Science. In addition to continuing my education and career, I also have aspirations to backpack South America. I hope to find a couple of months to do so before I start a full-time job.
Also, I would like to thank you for honoring me as a recipient of the Craig C. Brown Outstanding Senior Engineer Award. I am thrilled to have been selected. Two of the other recipients are friends of mine, and both are incredible people. I am glad to see them recognized as well.
All you do for Texas A&M University and for the Brown Scholars is amazing and inspiring. I think I speak for all of the Brown Scholars when I say that your guidance has allowed us to flourish and make the most of our college careers.
Thank you so much,
Tyler Romero ’16
Dear Mr. Brown,
I would just like to thank you for the incredible scholarship that I have been blessed with and the opportunities that have come with it. I had an incredible Freshman year at A&M and am looking forward to what sophomore year has in store. I recently decided to begin taking my medical school prerequisites and have been lucky enough to selected for The Big Event Committee. I love this University and am so grateful that I have been afforded such an experience by you.
Sincerely,
Zach Lewis
© Craig & Galen Brown Foundation 2020
