room 109 in the o&m building will be transformed into a highly collaborative facility dedicated to all dimensions of beyond-the-classroom professional development including internship and career placement when planning the new space the college utilized the architectural rendering software sketch up part of the new trimble technologies lab to envision the center's design and concept this partnership with the texas a&m career center paves the way for the college of geosciences to have a dedicated facility and a dedicated associate director within our own space dean thomas explained we are also deeply grateful for the support of provost fierke joe pettibon and the career center executive director samantha wilson for their support of our strategic vision the geosciences career center is also mission-critical to the colleges goal of leading the nation in broadening and deepening participation in the geosciences she said and it will help recruit students by connecting them to intentional pathways to impactful and rewarding careers this partnership with the tamu career center is a game-changing resource for aggie geoscientists and could not have arisen at a more opportune time for our students and their families helping graduates become successful professionals as they partnered with college leadership on the vision for the career center the samfords drew from their experience of helping their sons transition from texas a&m students to successful professionals in new careers as well as their experiences in recruiting college graduates to their companies as seniors are considering their first career move and looking at opportunities its key to look at the culture of a company: will it be a good fit for you curtis said a lot of students after school focus on prestigious companies or the highest-paying positions and they dont spend enough time looking at the culture of the company and is it the right fit for them curtis samford graduated from texas a&m with a bachelors degree in geophysics in 1984 and he now serves as the president and chief executive officer for afg holdings a private equity backed oem serving the oil and gas industry as well as providing products and services to the broader aerospace/defense and industrial markets traci samford graduated from texas a&m in 2011 with a bachelors degree in accounting and was an accountant for anadarko petroleum corporation for several years before retiring their two sons graduated from texas a&m in 2011 and 2013 even once you get hired its important to remember that you still have a lot to learn traci said your degree gets you in the door the connections you make at texas a&m get you in the door all of that prepares you for the job but youre not done learning – you still have to learn how to apply everything you learned at school and make it work in your job dean thomas said that the new career center will be a visible testament to the samfords investment and the colleges commitment to the power of a texas a&m geosciences degree she also credited former geosciences director of development gary reynolds with partnering with the college and the samfords to make this dream a reality for geosciences students aggie geoscientists will forever associate the samfords with the promise that their hard work and passion will connect them directly to an intensely rewarding career by leslie lee 09