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| My Family: My Dad receiving the Distinguished Alumnus Award |
Being from a small town in a big state makes one different than most. El Campo or "the camp" in Spanish is where I call home. It is an hour south of Houston and a short 40-minute drive to the coast. I grew up raising rabbits, goats and lambs for the Wharton County Fair and some major shows. It taught me responsibility and how to be a leader. On the other hand, volleyball on both a club and High School level was my other passion. I wish I could still play competitively but all good things must come to an end. Some of my current hobbies include: traveling, cooking, baking, weight training, interior decorating, painting, writing, networking, and playing with our families dogs; Harley (French Brittany spaniel - 3 y.o.) and Kaos (boxer -2 y.o.).
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| Graduation December 2012 |
After High School, I went on to attend Texas A&M University in the fall of 2009. During my time at Texas A&M I was able to go on two study abroads. The first was in Maastricht, Netherlands where I studied business ethics and the second was the Marketing Study Abroad trip (7 different countries). Both were amazing opportunities and times in my life that I will never forget. In December of 2012, I graduated a semester early and received my Bachelors of Business Administration degree with a major in Marketing and a Certificate in International Business. Instead of jumping right into the workforce, I decided to take a year off to chase my childhood dreams of becoming an actress and a plus size model. I wanted to set a precedent for young women and be a role model. Setting an example and showing them that no matter what size you are, you can still feel and look beautiful on the inside and out. My dream came to fruition and I was represented by Page.713 for modeling and Trinity Talent for acting. Confidence is key. "Walk the walk and talk the talk!" I decided to rescind my contract with Page.713 and was able to be chosen to have Nikki Pederson Talent represent me. In May of 2015, I fulfilled a life long dream and went to New York to meet with multiple agencies and do a photoshoot. It was an eye opening experience that ignited my passion to set a good positive example for young women of all shapes and sizes.
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| Photoshoot in Brooklyn |
During this year "sabbatical," I also worked for my Dads' company revamping his website http://emeraldsodfarms.com, working as a ranch hand, configuring spreadsheets, amortization schedules and collecting data and research on Western Water Laws. Ring-Wraps, LLC also became a huge part of my life. http://ring-wraps.com Working at trunk shows alongside a young Aggie entrepreneur, with a phenomenal product is very gratifying and humbling. I became in tune with my passion for sales and capitalized upon it with Ring-Wraps! I am honored to wear their product every day and to have it "embrace the tradition" around my precious Aggie Ring.
In January of 2014, I began looking for something more in life. I stumbled upon a job at an international customs brokerage firm but my time there was short. I realized quickly that it was not what I wanted to do with my life. Being someone or doing something that does not make one happy is not worth the extra stress or the heartache. Everyone should love what they do every minute of every day. I worked hard long hours and gave that job my all but in the end it was a great company that simply did not suit me.
Time is precious and as fate would have it, someone had a plan for me. During my year off, I had worked towards getting my Texas Real Estate Salesperson License. I acquired it in December of 2013 but had never activated it due to my job restrictions. With my passion for real estate I began inquiring about the Master of Real Estate program at Texas A&M and in a months time I was admitted to the program for the Fall of 2014. I was ecstatic! I have Dr. Peterson and all the members of the MRE program to thank for all the advice and guidance he gave me in such a short period of time. I will be graduating in December of 2015, ready to hit the ground running with all the knowledge I will have acquired.
Fall 2014, I began the real estate program and life was very interesting and it still is. It was full of team work, intense financial problems and the opportunity to meet a lot of influential people in the real estate world. Networking became integral to what the program was about and how it functioned. During this time I helped my Dad with the sale of our company and land in Colorado. It was a huge undertaking while in my Spring semester of the MRE program, but it was for my family, which is of the upmost importance.
Now I am in my last semester and have completed my internship with Caldwell Companies. I focused on the brokerage aspects of real estate and after completing my internship I stepped into a role at Aggieland Title Company. I am their Director of Business Development, overseeing anything and everything in regards to internal and external relations. It has been a blast immersing myself in what has been an exciting and intrinsic industry to learn.
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| Canyoning in Austria |
.....When thinking about what I want to do in the short term, I can see myself working at a Consulting firm and traveling all over the world. International Real Estate is something I am truly passionate about. I love other cultures and traveling to new places. Looking further down the road, I hope to open my own multi-faceted Real Estate Company that provides a wide range of services. I do not want to pigeonhole myself. I want to be good at a vast array of things.
In my Development class with Dr. Peterson, I hope to learn a solid foundation for development and its processes. This realm of the Real Estate industry is key and understanding it, makes one more well rounded. In my previous Land Development class I hoped to learn and make correct and applicable market analysis for any and all types of Real Estate. I am able to do that now and I will eventually be able to advise others on what they are buying and the highest and best use of it. My objective is to build a strong backbone of knowledge. After all, "knowledge is power!"
Some things on my bucket list are: hike up to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, return to Auckland, New Zealand and do the SkyJump off the Sky Tower, go on an African Safari, run with the bulls in Spain, scuba dive with sharks in the Great Barrier Reef and master a black diamond slope. I am a very adventurous person, therefore, I have many things I would like to do but they are too numerous to list.
Most importantly, I am a driven individual with the mind set of, "anything that is worth doing is worth doing right!" ...... Thanks and Gig'em!
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