It was senior year of high school. Life was a whirlwind of papers, errands, college acceptance (and rejection) letters, scholarships, and tidbits of college advice. By the time I remembered that I was planning on applying to the Cornerstone Program, it was already past the deadline. For a little while I thought about just brushing off the whole thing. One more application. But then I paused. It DID sound like the coolest thing ever...
Hey, thanks for reading! I'm Craig Welkener, a junior political science major, from Allen, TX. (Its just a bit north of Dallas.) I love Texas A&M (Whoop!), and I am telling you that the Cornerstone Program is one of the best things that has happened to me here. Its hard to do, but let me try and summarize some of the benefits.
On a personal level, I created some really great, enriching friendships with the wonderful students in the program, as well as with DC (Dr. Curtis). Having classes together every semester, talking about everything under the sun, and travelling the world for fun really has a way of drawing you together.
Academically, it was right up my alley. I'm basically interested in anything social science oriented, particularly communication and government. I like getting the big picture, and integrating several perspectives into a coherent whole. Cornerstone was perfect for that purpose. Hearing liberal arts professors approaching diverse issues from diverse perspectives, and listening to fellow students with different interests and specialties, (not to mention going to Vienna and Munich), I had a rich intellectual environment to test and stretch my ideas.
Career-wise, there's not really any way to exactly gauge the impact of the Cornerstone Program. I do know that it helped lay the foundation for academic excellence at Texas A&M, gave me exposure to the whole gamut of scholarship, internship and job opportunities, and looks great on my resume all by itself. Perhaps the biggest career asset is Dr. Curtis himself, who pushes you to excel, and is happy to write a much-needed reccomendation letter when needed.
So to finish that story, I applied to Cornerstone, and DC let me in no problem. All in all, Cornerstone is a slam dunk, no doubt about it. Great classes, great friends, and a trip to Europe, all guaranteed in your freshman year. After that, you can take even more great classes, and you always have the friends. Who could ask for more?
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