REP-PP Spring 2016 Blog: Respect
Blogger: Avery Ory
Law School Year: 3L
Placement: Senator John Cornyn’s Judiciary Committee Staff
Respect - We are the Aggies, the Aggies are we.
As a child of an Aggie family, the core values were not only discussed at the dinner table as traits to embody, the manifestation of them in our daily lives was expected. The one held in the highest regard was always respect. Respect for your elders, your fellow man, your fellow Aggie, those less fortunate, those you didn’t agree with—every class of person in this world would receive respect from me—or I just simply wasn’t doing my duty as an Aggie.
My experiences at Texas A&M in College Station and Fort Worth have shaped the way I view the world and interact with others. My time thus far in Washington, D.C., has proven those lessons valuable beyond measure. Respect is not just something you extend to friends or colleagues. In order to fully embody the Aggie Core Value of Respect, one must extend this courtesy to adversaries and individuals who hold a value system other than your own. You cannot exemplify the spirit of Texas A&M by just offering respect to those who share your belief system or background. Instead, your respect must extend to those people who you fervently disagree with time and time again.
In the world of D.C. politics, you hear the word “respect” tossed around a lot. From markups, to hearings, to press conferences, “respect” spills from the mouths of politicians and staffers alike. “I have great respect for you, but let me go forth and demean not only your argument, but you as a person while arguing my point in a very cordial way.” This faux respect is not what I believe Aggies should strive for. Instead, they should strive to be like the people heading and involved in the Texas A&M Residency Externship Program in Public Policy. The professors, students, and administrative staff who work together every day to make this the leading program for experiential learning come from backgrounds and belief systems as diverse as the city itself. We come to class and events from long days of politically charged work—in a city known for its shark-like qualities—to discuss the biggest issues facing our nation. We discuss them passionately and at-length, but never without respect for each other. Respect for the person leads to respect for the position, and that opens up the possibility not just for a compromise, but for a workable solution.
The Aggie Core Value of Respect exudes from this group in ways that I have never seen. I am so fortunate to be a member of this special class and have the opportunity to work with people whom I not only respect, but also have grown to care for deeply. The Aggies have arrived and cannot wait to show D.C. our version of respect, however rare it may be.