My "George Bailey" was Dr Hansen, my undergraduate advisor at A&M.

I was C+16 and IIRC, I was on SchoPro for 7 consecutive semesters. I had to Appeal every semester to stay in school, which usually came after classes started. I'd get approval to enroll after the 1st week of classes and my helicopter mom wrote letters to him every semester thanking him for his decision. In the end, I walked the stage still in doubt pending a conversation with the Dept Head, who ultimately said, "You are going to graduate, but you are probably not a traditional engineer. You might chose sales." Ultimately I did.

I came close to getting off probation one semester. I took a 300 level course in my Major. 63 students. 32Q drops on the last day to drop. 31 students got a grade. I had convinced myself that his bell curve would be based on enrolled students, but that was not the case. He gave 5 F's and 7Ds. Crushing setback... but I begged to stay in, and was approved.

My 1st job out of college the question was "Do you have an engineering degree?" Yes.
My 2nd job out of college the question was "Can you provide proof of an engineering degree?" Yes.

My career has been in Technology, but entry was a STEM degree. Dr. Hansen gave me every opportunity to achieve that and without it, my career path would have been substantially different.

I would not have gotten that 1st job where I met my wife of 25 years... and where I met the two guys that would introduce me to my 2nd job boss, and get me my 3rd job. The 3 jobs spanned 14 years of my career.

A single "no" over the course of 7 years at A&M would have changed so many tings in my life.

My mom was a HS dropout and was my biggest supporter and encourager, but I had surpassed what she could control, but knew how to influence those who had control. Thanks, Dr. Hansen and those that enable other young people to reach heights they could never have imagined.

Who is YOUR George Bailey? Or your Dr. Hansen?

DallasAg 94 said:

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My "George Bailey" was Dr Hansen, my undergraduate advisor at A&M.

I was C+16 and IIRC, I was on SchoPro for 7 consecutive semesters. I had to Appeal every semester to stay in school, which usually came after classes started. I'd get approval to enroll after the 1st week of classes and my helicopter mom wrote letters to him every semester thanking him for his decision. In the end, I walked the stage still in doubt pending a conversation with the Dept Head, who ultimately said, "You are going to graduate, but you are probably not a traditional engineer. You might chose sales." Ultimately I did.

I came close to getting off probation one semester. I took a 300 level course in my Major. 63 students. 32Q drops on the last day to drop. 31 students got a grade. I had convinced myself that his bell curve would be based on enrolled students, but that was not the case. He gave 5 F's and 7Ds. Crushing setback... but I begged to stay in, and was approved.

My 1st job out of college the question was "Do you have an engineering degree?" Yes.
My 2nd job out of college the question was "Can you provide proof of an engineering degree?" Yes.

My career has been in Technology, but entry was a STEM degree. Dr. Hansen gave me every opportunity to achieve that and without it, my career path would have been substantially different.

I would not have gotten that 1st job where I met my wife of 25 years... and where I met the two guys that would introduce me to my 2nd job boss, and get me my 3rd job. The 3 jobs spanned 14 years of my career.

A single "no" over the course of 7 years at A&M would have changed so many tings in my life.

My mom was a HS dropout and was my biggest supporter and encourager, but I had surpassed what she could control, but knew how to influence those who had control. Thanks, Dr. Hansen and those that enable other young people to reach heights they could never have imagined.

Who is YOUR George Bailey? Or your Dr. Hansen?

---

Craig Corporon took a chance on me at Enterprise Rent A Car and was my biggest fan even when I tried time and time again to derail myself. He believed in me until I had reached the big promotion I had dreamt of. Very tragically, his own life took some left turns and he ended his own life in 2015 and it, to this day, is probably one of the hardest of my losses given his personal connection to me and the surprise of it all.

No Georges in my life as I defeated plenty of them types being a potter myself.

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

I got an $8000 scholarship ($1000/semester). By the end up my sophomore year my cumulative was below 2.5 so they stopped funding me. Funny how that motivates a man. By the end of my junior year, they were back up to par, and rhw scholarship was back. They even paid for a semester of grad school.

No story, but Hansen was my advisor in college. Great guy.

Merry Christmas Sully!

Merry Christmas quad!

Merry Christmas MSC!

Merry Christmas Albritton!

Merry Christmas Rudder!

Merry Christmas west campus!

Merry Christmas Century tree!

God was my George Bailey.

I had no one else on which to rely.

SquareOne07 said:

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DallasAg 94 said:

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My "George Bailey" was Dr Hansen, my undergraduate advisor at A&M.

I was C+16 and IIRC, I was on SchoPro for 7 consecutive semesters. I had to Appeal every semester to stay in school, which usually came after classes started. I'd get approval to enroll after the 1st week of classes and my helicopter mom wrote letters to him every semester thanking him for his decision. In the end, I walked the stage still in doubt pending a conversation with the Dept Head, who ultimately said, "You are going to graduate, but you are probably not a traditional engineer. You might chose sales." Ultimately I did.

I came close to getting off probation one semester. I took a 300 level course in my Major. 63 students. 32Q drops on the last day to drop. 31 students got a grade. I had convinced myself that his bell curve would be based on enrolled students, but that was not the case. He gave 5 F's and 7Ds. Crushing setback... but I begged to stay in, and was approved.

My 1st job out of college the question was "Do you have an engineering degree?" Yes.
My 2nd job out of college the question was "Can you provide proof of an engineering degree?" Yes.

My career has been in Technology, but entry was a STEM degree. Dr. Hansen gave me every opportunity to achieve that and without it, my career path would have been substantially different.

I would not have gotten that 1st job where I met my wife of 25 years... and where I met the two guys that would introduce me to my 2nd job boss, and get me my 3rd job. The 3 jobs spanned 14 years of my career.

A single "no" over the course of 7 years at A&M would have changed so many tings in my life.

My mom was a HS dropout and was my biggest supporter and encourager, but I had surpassed what she could control, but knew how to influence those who had control. Thanks, Dr. Hansen and those that enable other young people to reach heights they could never have imagined.

Who is YOUR George Bailey? Or your Dr. Hansen?

---

Craig Corporon took a chance on me at Enterprise Rent A Car and was my biggest fan even when I tried time and time again to derail myself. He believed in me until I had reached the big promotion I had dreamt of. Very tragically, his own life took some left turns and he ended his own life in 2015 and it, to this day, is probably one of the hardest of my losses given his personal connection to me and the surprise of it all.

---

Craig was a good guy. His passing was terrible and shocking. He was always professional and provided great advice, personally and professionally. Miss that man.

TexasAggie_02 said:

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Merry Christmas Sully!

Merry Christmas quad!

Merry Christmas MSC!

Merry Christmas Albritton!

Merry Christmas Rudder!

Merry Christmas west campus!

Merry Christmas Century tree!

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Merry Christmas Scantron 882

Thank you Mr Barker at a NASA contractor. After graduation in May he told me I should receive an offer in 2 weeks. I heard "2 more weeks" until the following October but it finally happened and I started my 21 year career at NASA.

My "George Bailey" was a professor in my junior year of college. He invested the time to give me the guidance to not only be more successful in college but also life.

If you're lucky to have a George Bailey in your life, even if but for a moment, you're truly blessed.

My "George Bailey" was Don Carter the Head Registrar. Met Don, playing golf and formed a relationship with him. I received a "don't call us, we will call you" letter from A&M and I was kicked out. Decided I needed to transfer to Sam Houston and finish my degree. I had a transcript hold and had to go talk to Don about getting it released. Don looked at me and said, "Son, do you want to graduate from Texas A&M?" I of course said yes. He looked at me and said, "Well its time to fish or cut bait and if you fail again you will have not just failed yourself, you will have failed me."

He made two phone calls and I was back enrolled at Texas A&M. I made the Dean's list every semester until I graduated. When I walked the stage for graduation, Don Carter handed my diploma and gave me a hug. He said, "You made me proud and you should be proud of yourself."

Thank you Don, you changed my life and gave me a second chance. I will never forget that man.

Mine was Dennis Davenport, head of Corps Housing during my time at A&M. I got a job there as a student worker from the summer of '01 until I graduated in August of '02 (I took a victory lap…and a half). I had just gotten married, and he invested so much time into me, driving me to be a better student and learning how to be a good husband. He's an amazing man, and a huge part of the Corps experience for lots of Aggies.

Hot take: The modern western world was built by Henry Potters and the movie's moral revelation is naive and unfounded.

Back when snl was still funny

I had a Dr. Robert Hansen in the ChE dept for mass transfer. Is that who you're talking about?

UTExan said:

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God was my George Bailey.

I had no one else on which to rely.

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Well, that's a good one, for sure.

ChemEng94 said:

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No story, but Hansen was my advisor in college. Great guy.

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Here.

Great guy.

Loved his derivations. When it started to make no sense, "4th and long…punt". Long line on the board, then

Voila, the actual equation you needed.

McInnis said:

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I had a Dr. Robert Hansen in the ChE dept for mass transfer. Is that who you're talking about?

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Probably the same.

Infection_Ag11 said:

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Hot take: The modern western world was built by Henry Potters and the movie's moral revelation is naive and unfounded.

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That's certainly one take.

While there were certainly Henry Potter's... and still are today, there were and are plenty of George Baileys.

On the moral side, we can disagree. I've never known a man to say they'd wished they worked more. Or made more money.

What leads a person like Bezos to give away much of his fortune when he dies? Ego? Recognition? Doesn't matter when he goes "tits up." He doesn't get to take it with him.

Here's a Hot take: Men like Potter end their lives alone, empty, and miserable clinging on to every penny they've squeezed more miserable than those they've oppressed.

Dr Joe. Let me back in, great guy. Pretty sure many others can say the same.

DallasAg 94 said:

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Infection_Ag11 said:

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Hot take: The modern western world was built by Henry Potters and the movie's moral revelation is naive and unfounded.

---

That's certainly one take.

While there were certainly Henry Potter's... and still are today, there were and are plenty of George Baileys.

On the moral side, we can disagree. I've never known a man to say they'd wished they worked more. Or made more money.

What leads a person like Bezos to give away much of his fortune when he dies? Ego? Recognition? Doesn't matter when he goes "tits up." He doesn't get to take it with him.

Here's a Hot take: Men like Potter end their lives alone, empty, and miserable clinging on to every penny they've squeezed more miserable than those they've oppressed.

---

ABattJudd said:

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Mine was Dennis Davenport, head of Corps Housing during my time at A&M. I got a job there as a student worker from the summer of '01 until I graduated in August of '02 (I took a victory lap…and a half). I had just gotten married, and he invested so much time into me, driving me to be a better student and learning how to be a good husband. He's an amazing man, and a huge part of the Corps experience for lots of Aggies.

---

My family lived in Colorado while I went to A&M. Thanksgiving my senior year, Dennis Davenport knew I stayed in the dorm. He invited me to his home for Thanksgiving dinner. I thanked him and declined. I studied thirteen hours in dorm 1 that day. And enjoyed a magnificent Thanksgiving meal that he brought yo my dorm room. He plus an amazing man!

Dr Joe saved me from delaying my graduation

My Henry Potter was Dr. Mary Jo Richardson, the dean of the college of geosciences. After being accepted to A&M, and joining the FTAB with a light scholarship, I proceeded to tank my grades. I was never suited for college but I toughed it out. Mary Jo Richardson said "You just aren't college material, you have one semester to get it together. Sorry."

My George Bailey's have been many. Bruce Herbert was one that basically said "Let's get you out of the engineering cohorts and set up your schedule a little better for how you operate." He was truly a man of character. He helped tremendously. He encompassed what it means to be an Aggie and a human being to impressionable young men and women.

The Second George Bailey was Joe Sonnier who fought for me to be hired as a Geophysicist back in 2005. He hired myself and several others with 'sub par' GPA because "good grades don't mean S#$& to me, we need team players and people who can be taught."

There are several others that gave me chances when I needed help the most.

Those George Bailey's are what shaped my life to date, from school, to my first well paying job, to being able to buy a ranch and raise my kids, to selling that ranch and getting into a bigger one, to real estate, to roofing, to owning our own business.

Now that I own my own business, we prioritize customer service, we have given breaks to people who need it.

Henry Potter does make the world go round in some capacity, but George Bailey is what does all the legwork.

I believe you need a little bit of both in your personal life. You need Henry Potter in order to not make dumb business decisions, but you need George Bailey to handle PR, customer service, and educated business risks that have far better payouts than 100% Potter types.

I can tell you I get far more referrals for work and business by being George Bailey than being Potter.

Infection_Ag11 said:

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Hot take: The modern western world was built by Henry Potters and the movie's moral revelation is naive and unfounded.

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The modern western world was built by people with vision. George had an unfulfilled vision to travel the world and build things. Potter had no vision. He just wanted to run the town. In the decades in which he ran the bank they never mentioned any expansion beyond Bedford Falls.

Good to hear OP.

All the profs I had at A&M were pompous a-holes. I don't have a George Bailey to point to who helped me.

My wife, probably. My grades were tanking hard my sophomore year due to way too much fun and not enough time in the classroom. Met my future wife and things just sort of fell back into place. My life became stable again and I had goals and a plan, and my grades improved dramatically. I'm never the type to ask for help, unless i have no other choice, but sometimes help finds you anyways.

McInnis said:

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I had a Dr. Robert Hansen in the ChE dept for mass transfer. Is that who you're talking about?

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I had Dr. Hansen for some classes. I didn't know him very well but the students he advised thought he really helped them.

He would spend the whole class deriving formulas on the chalkboard, starting on the left and filling the whole board

JamesE4 said:

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McInnis said:

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I had a Dr. Robert Hansen in the ChE dept for mass transfer. Is that who you're talking about?

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I had Dr. Hansen for some classes. I didn't know him very well but the students he advised thought he really helped them.

He would spend the whole class deriving formulas on the chalkboard, starting on the left and filling the whole board

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Yep, that's the Dr. Hansen I knew. He would casually assign us every problem at the end of every chapter in our textbook. My roommate who was also a ChemE would stay up late every night working on those problems, we literally spent hours every day/night on them. One night around midnight we were in the IHop complaining with great vigor about that same Dr. Hansen and his terribly unfair treatment of us poor students when the devil himself walks in, sits down at our table, and said "how's it going boys?". I never knew for sure he would even recognize me outside of class.

Logos Stick said:

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Good to hear OP.

All the profs I had at A&M were pompous a-holes. I don't have a George Bailey to point to who helped me.

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Sorry to hear that. It makes me sad.

The need for more George Bailey's and fewer Potters has defined my life after graduation.

Dr. Ed Rister in the AgEcon department. He is a great man. I worked on a a capstone project with him over my Senior and Senior+ years. In addition he was able to make a phone call to help me get an interview that lead to my first job as I was getting ready to graduate,

These are fun to read. My dad, Dr. "Ed" Percival '58 worked in the USDA offices on campus on Agronomy Road and was a George Bailey to a few of his student workers. I remember him talking about a couple of kids who he helped get back into TAMU when they failed out. He just kept helping them and smiling about it when he got home.

Sorry for making it about me! It was a sweet thing to have those memories as I read your posts. He died January 3, 2012 so always lots of thoughts of him this time of year.

I was lucky enough to have a couple of "George Bailey's".

As a kid, I'd always wanted to work in sports, but after 9/11 in HS, I switched things up and went the military route, serving all over the Middle East and North Africa. Fast forward many years, and I'm working in O&G offshore and got laid off when oil took a downturn in the summer of 2015. Decided it was time to go back to school and pursue the dream.

I started with a focus on sports radio, but during my first year at UNT, a Dallas Morning News writer, Marjorie Lewis, pulled me aside and said she loved my writing and that I should think about pursuing that angle. I did really well and got into Northwestern for grad school. While there, I had to take a video elective and was pulled aside by a professor named Carla Eboh, who said, "Hey, I know you want to write and talk, but your personality translates to video."

So, I took every video class I could and graduated during the pandemic. In 2.5 years, I went from a student to working in a Top 10 market, a nearly unheard-of fast track. I'm exceedingly lucky to thrive in an industry that often requires massive hours, low pay, tight deadlines, constant improvisation, and heavy criticism. It's all because I had people who cared enough to see in me what I didn't and guide me along the way.

loveaTm said:

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These are fun to read. My dad, Dr. "Ed" Percival '58 worked in the USDA offices on campus on Agronomy Road and was a George Bailey to a few of his student workers. I remember him talking about a couple of kids who he helped get back into TAMU when they failed out. He just kept helping them and smiling about it when he got home.

Sorry for making it about me! It was a sweet thing to have those memories as I read your posts. He died January 3, 2012 so always lots of thoughts of him this time of year.

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Here.

Great story.