Making Connections With Bobcat Preview

Your first experiences at Texas State are shaped by your orientation leaders, mentors, and your Bobcat Preview Pals. Each week the Pals take on hundreds of first-year students and introduce them to their new lives as Bobcats. This student-run program is a vital part of Texas States’ campus culture, and the members behind it are responsible for making sure that your time here at Texas State is unforgettable.

After having a positive experience with her own Pal, Camryn Byers, now a senior at Texas State, decided to apply to Bobcat Preview on a whim her sophomore year, and it changed the course of her college experience forever.

“I joined Bobcat Preview in 2019 and I went into it completely blind. I didn’t know anyone in the organization,” Camryn said. “That decision was super unlike me, just because I had never really been involved in anything before.”

Becoming a Pal allowed Camryn to create a safe space for students that she feels is crucial for their success in college. With the support of her advisors and the close-knit bond she formed with her fellow Pals, Camryn felt as if she had finally found the inclusive environment she was looking for.

“I didn’t have a super big community before joining Bobcat Preview, and I think that’s why it was so important for me to create that environment for other students,” Camryn said. “We need to put an emphasis on joining organizations and getting involved, because college can be so hard. You need to find a place where you feel like you belong and LBJSC did that for me.”

Camryn, soon to graduate with a bachelor of business administration degree in marketing, expressed that she didn’t feel prepared for graduation until she got hands-on experience with Bobcat Preview. The skills she learned from leading a team and running outreach programming was something she feels like she couldn’t get from her time in the classroom alone.

“After my first year as a Pal leading 150 students, I became a Lead Pal,” Camryn said. “I went from leading students to leading a team who led students, so it was a big jump for me. Now I am the PR and Merchandising Coordinator, which fits perfectly with what I’m studying in school.”

Bobcat Preview has allowed current and previous members an opportunity to dive deeper into what they want to do in their careers. For alum Abbey Cliffel, her former role as student co-director gave her some insight into her path after leaving Texas State in 2019.

“Bobcat Preview really confirmed where I wanted to go in life,” Abbey said. “I knew I wanted to work with students and be a part of their first-year experience because being a Pal felt so important. It was amazing.”

Abbey accredits her career shift from elementary education to post-secondary student affairs to the rewarding connections she made within the student center. Having the responsibility of planning large scale events such as Homecoming and River Fest allowed Abbey to see the value in student involvement first hand.

“With advisors like Brettney Birdwell, you really felt as if the team genuinely cared about you and wanted you to succeed,” Abbey said. “She came in with a lot of ideas that made me start to think in a new way.”

With the support of her advisors and team, Abbey was able to step into her role as co-director and gain confidence in herself as a leader. She noted that without taking a chance on Bobcat Preview her life wouldn’t be the same, and encourages others at Texas State to push themselves out of their comfort zone.

“To any first-year students- or really anyone, I would say to be open to any new experience that comes your way,” Abbey said. “Say yes to as many cool experiences as you can. You can meet a bunch of cool people, and really focus on those connections you can make with your fellow Bobcats.”

Interested in finding some new connections of your own? Check out our social media @LBJSC for more information about how you can get involved at the student center.