Between track practices, student athletic advisory committee meetings, Kappa Alpha Psi activities and working in the office of the Board of Regents, Kohl Anderson has little time to ponder the opportunities that arise.
The senior in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University was surprised to get the call asking him to introduce Texas A&M President Michael K. Young in the upcoming State of the University address.
“This job has created many great opportunities for me and is definitely one of my favorite things that I get to do while in college,” Anderson said. “It is from working for the Board of Regents that I was blessed with the opportunity to introduce President Young.”
When he was told Raymond Boney, director of university events, contacted Shawn Price, assistant media relations director for track and field, Anderson was honored to have been remembered and chosen for this event.
“A while back, I had to take Mr. Boney back to the president’s office,” Anderson said. “I had no idea I was more or less being interviewed.”
The athlete runs in the 400 meter and 4X400 meter relay events for the Texas A&M track and field team. When Anderson is not at work or the track, he is usually studying for his rigorous courses.
“I was drawn to industrial engineering because it has the perfect balance of engineering knowledge, and versatility,” Anderson said. “Industrial is a very strong degree and can be applied into any field because no matter the business, things can always get better. That's what Industrial Engineering is about, bettering and optimizing systems.”
Anderson plans to merge his degree in industrial engineering with a law degree to achieve his goal of supporting people through legal consulting.
“I plan on going to law school after I finish my undergraduate degree,” Anderson said. “My dream job would be owning my own law and consulting firm, using both of my degrees to help people make their business as profitable as possible and also being able to support them legally.”
Anderson will take the stage to introduce President Young to deliver the Address “focusing on the pursuit of excellence in transformational education, innovation and impact to celebrate the 140th birthday of the university”.
“I am very blessed with this opportunity,” Anderson admitted. “Of course I am very busy, but this is the kind of thing you make time for.”
The State of the University Address will be available for live streaming on Oct. 4.