Freshmen Friday: Involvement

Hi guys!
 
My name is Brenna Coffman. I am a 2013 Traditional Terry. I graduated in May of 2017 and now am currently working on my master’s in Clinical Exercise Physiology. However, I’m not here to talk about any of that. I’m here to talk about President’s Select.
 
President’s Select is an organization that serves Texas Tech University through the Office of Admissions, the Office of the President, and the Office of Athletics. You know those people on campus walking around backwards while being followed by a hoard of more people carrying red bags? Those backward walkers are President’s Select members. I specifically worked a lot with the Office of Admissions in President’s Select, although I did delve into the other atmospheres this amazing organization has to offer. I served as a student assistant and tour guide for the Manager of West Texas Admissions and the Visitor’s Center front desk from 2015-2016. I then took over the role of Vice President of Admissions for President’s Select in 2016. With this responsibility, I was given the opportunity to serve by planning the tour schedule for approximately 80 members of President’s Select each semester. I was also in charge of helping with events and making sure my tour guides were where they were supposed to be during those events, as well as I trained new member of President’s Select. But, enough about me. Let’s talk more about President’s Select, specifically.
 
Overall, President’s Select is split into three separate groups: Office of Admissions, Office of the President, and Office of Athletics. For the Office of Admissions, there are many opportunities to serve. The main responsibility here is being a tour guide for visitors of Texas Tech. That can include students who are interested in attending this amazing university. This can also include giving tours to special guests that request one on one tours of the University. When I say special guests, I’m talking about VIP visitors that you would see in club seats at sporting events or even those in relation to the “higher powers” of the university, although this aspect also goes over into Office of the President responsibilities. Other responsibilities in Admissions include participating in recruiting students during events scheduled by the Admissions department, which could include free travel in some circumstances. For the Office of the President, President’s Select has the opportunity to serve in terms of travel and VIP tours. Travel includes special appearances at Admissions events where we recruit top scholar students and even have opportunities for one on one time with the President of Texas Tech, deans of the colleges, and other special encounters. Places we have gotten to travel include Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, Houston, and quite a few more. I won’t touch on this anymore, just because this is a very special part of President’s Select that remains exclusive to members of the organization. The final branch we serve is the Office of Athletics. Here, we are responsible for helping to recruit potential athletes to the University. We serve mainly by helping to recruit potential football players. However, we have also been known to recruit baseball, track and even softball, among other sports. I am unable to go into more detail with regards to Office of Athletics, for confidentiality reasons. I can say this was one of my favorite parts of the organization to participate in.
 
When I applied for this organization, I was a freshman who had absolutely no idea what she was doing. After applying, I went through an extensive interview process before being given the privilege to join this organization. Even after that, I went through training to be thoroughly knowledgeable on everything Texas Tech. Becoming a part of this organization is one of those things I did without knowing I had made one of the best decisions of my entire life. I have traveled to Dallas for events to recruit students. I have participated in recruiting numerous football prospects for the University. I have given more tours than I could possibly count, including quite a few of those “special” tours where I got to meet some of the most amazing people. I helped to bring in a whole new class of President’s Select members and I then was blessed with the experience of training those new members. Along with this, President’s Select members are given first grabs to unique jobs on campus, thus the way I received my job in Admissions. Through this, I got to work with some of the smartest and most passionate Texas Tech loving people, and I also get to call many of them my friends now. I met some of my very best friends in this organization, and I still see many of the students I recruited on campus. This organization isn’t about resume building or something “cool” to participate in (although it does meet both of those criteria). It’s an organization about serving Texas Tech University. It’s about hard work and long hours. It’s about being so passionate about your university and needing to share that passion with others to convince and prove to them that Texas Tech University is the best of the best. 


Brenna Coffman 


​