Academic collaboration

The Higher Education Center at McAllen offers the close relationship and Aggie family. Many people talk about the Aggie family and many people don't get that connection. Here at McAllen, we do get that connection. What's so cool about it is that when faculty, staff or anyone that gets notified about an internship or an opportunity for a co-op or for a job, they notify us right away. One last thing I would like to say is that one of my experiences here is that I was able to have classes by myself. I know when you hear that you're like 'wait what is that possible?' Yeah it was for me. So, that experience can maybe be daunting at first because you're like 'OK, you're just with the professor' but it was actually a really good experience because the professors here at the Higher Education Center are able to adapt to your learning style. So for me, I'm more of a visual learner and they were able to adapt to teach me examples and to actually write and go through the examples with me. By having this opportunity, I was able to learn on my own path rather than waiting for other people when you have a bigger class. Here I was more confident in myself.

After I knew more about Texas A&M, I really wanted to go. When I learned about the Higher Education Center at McAllen, I immediately changed the campus I would attend. I grew up in The Valley, so a part of me wanted to stay where I belonged the most. My favorite aspect of studying in McAllen is that I get to see my family often and I am more aware of the impact I can make in The Valley. Also, classes are small enough to be able to interact more with your professors, and as a peer mentor, I have noticed how everybody can rely academically and personally on their peers.

Texas A&M certainly provides quality education and influences the lives of their students. The knowledge and skills I have gained are invaluable for my professional career and, most importantly, for the health of the patients and communities I will serve. My professors are outstanding educators in all respects and it is evident they want us to succeed. The sense of community at Texas A&M is uniquely strong and everyone I have encountered is nothing short but encouraging and supportive. The student organizations have given me a sense of belonging and has shaped me professionally and personally. I received an abundance of help with navigating ASHP Midyear, editing my CV, and applying for residencies. Pursuing my pharmacy education at Texas A&M has been an extremely rewarding and unforgettable experience

As I near completion of my PGY-1 residency, I often find myself reflecting on the role Texas A&M has made on my career. The support I have received through faculty, preceptors, and colleagues throughout the last 5 years is immense. Our school provides us the tools necessary to be eternal learners. APPEs and my PGY-1 have helped teach how to use these tools to best serve patients. While I am still the same playful self I was coming into pharmacy school, I have been taught important lessons in professionalism, competence, and humility. At each step of my education, I find that I possess new traits, skills, and characteristics that I have learned from those surrounding me. Later this year I will become a second year resident specializing in medication-use safety and policy. I will be developing these skills from a great team of preceptors at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I would not be where I am today if it not for Texas A&M and my mentors at my PGY-1 facility. A special shout out goes to Dr. Ladan Panahi for inspiring me to pursue residencies, teaching me how to publish, and dedicating her time to my revising CVs/Letters of intents. “Every person that you meet knows something you don't; learn from them.” - H. Jackson Brown Jr.

The newly formed Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering is so exciting. I wish I had been a student when this was around. The original pure mechanical engineer, pure structural engineer, they don’t exist by themselves anymore. The engineer of the future, whom we are educating now at Texas A&M University and specifically at the Higher Education Center at McAllen, have to be able to communicate with a new and ever developing engineering vernacular and skill set in a programmatic way to interact with other engineers, so interdisciplinary engineering is the future. Our students have fantastic opportunities that are new where they can develop their own program, essentially based on their interests. This flexibility wraps around mechanical, electrical, computer science, computer engineering, structural, architecture, construction sciences, among others — with these contributing to the creative fields of the world. All these fields of study are creative and innovative in their nature, and can be mixed and matched in a formal customized program of study.