Issue date: 2/11/09 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo ExCEL seeks to ease the transition from high school to college for freshmen students. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo The student organization ExCEL provides freshmen with upperclass mentors and awards a scholarship to the freshmen with the most participation. [Click to enlarge]

Excellence uniting Culture, Education and Leadership organization helps freshman to jump start their journey as an Aggie socially and academically.

"Many of the students in the program and the staff, when asked during their interviews, talk about how ExCEL made the transition much easier and that they have made their best friends in ExCEL, the ones they think will last throughout their college experience," said ExCEL adviser Adrien DeLoch.

ExCEL has a conference during "Gig 'Em Week" to show incoming freshmen what the organization is all about and how it can help their transition to A&M. Junior history major Dwaylon Whitmore said the conference is what hooked him on the organization.

"ExCEL was basically a way to help me network with the minority community around here and it served as a way to help me get mentors to help me make the transition from high school to college," Whitmore said.

The program divides the freshmen into teams with upperclassmen mentors who are the team leaders.

It gives out an "outstanding student scholarship" award to the freshman with the most participation in ExCEL. Sophomore general studies major and ExCEL co-chairman John May Jr. was the 2008 recipient.

May was affected so greatly by the program that he has dedicated his sophomore and junior years to it.

"You meet upperclassmen who serve as mentors, you have a lot of fun, the transition is facilitated throughout your process of transfer from high school to college;" May said. "It's really helpful and it helped me a lot so I wanted to make sure I gave back to the program."

Whitmore said he wants to give back to ExCEL the same way.

"I got to meet a lot of the members from my class that were in my community and that just helped me feel more welcome here at A&M," Whitmore said. "I saw how much it benefitted me so I wanted to kind of give back to the organization and help it to benefit the underclassmen that are gonna come up under me."

Mays said the current staff has a new energy and big plans for ExCEL.

"We're kind of moving away from the academic side, making it more social but still helping students with all [sides] of the college experience," Whitmore said.

May said participation in ExCEL as a freshman is not a prerequisite for joining the effort later in one's college career.

"You can be involved no matter what class you're in, no matter what your major is, no matter what your ethnicity is, it's open to everybody," he said. "Were planning to take it beyond the status it's been at before."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools