Nebraska teen plans return to A&M for grad school after Make-A-Wish visit
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas — A Nebraska teen whose Make-A-Wish visit to Texas A&M included shooting hoops with the woman’s basketball team and enjoying the Maroon & White spring scrimmage from the sideline with Coach Jimbo Fisher, now says he dreams of returning to campus as a graduate student.
Major Williams, 18, is a high school senior from Fullerton, Nebraska who recently recovered from leukemia treatment. Despite living deep in Cornhusker Country, Williams said he grew up “loving everything about the Aggies” because his late father was a super fan.
“After seeing A&M play football — they were in the Big 12 then, like Nebraska — he became a fan,” Williams said. “He really cared about what A&M stood for. The loyalty to the team. The respect for the university. Of being a part of something bigger than yourself.”
Click link for photos of Major Williams’ Make-A-Wish visit to Texas A&M University: Photo Gallery
Williams’ visit to campus, facilitated by the Make-A-Wish Foundation and The Texas A&M Foundation, “left us speechless,” he said. “It was awesome, it was really great to meet such wonderful, kind people.”
Williams admired A&M’s technologically-rich lecture halls, saw the Bonfire Memorial and toured The George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum during his visit, which lasted nearly a week.
“Meeting the Chancellor at the tailgate was very cool, meeting Coach Gary Blair and Joni Taylor and Jimbo Fisher, it was all just very overwhelming,” Williams said. “I am so very grateful.”
Williams, a high school senior, will attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney next, just so he can remain close to his doctors and his family. But he plans to return to A&M when he graduates to earn a master’s degree in pharmaceutical science.
About The Texas A&M University System
The Texas A&M University System is one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a budget of $9.6 billion. Through a statewide network of 11 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, and the RELLIS Campus, the Texas A&M System educates more than 152,000 students and makes more than 24 million additional educational contacts through service and outreach programs each year. System-wide, research and development expenditures exceed $1 billion and help drive the state’s economy.
Contact: Laylan Copelin
Vice Chancellor of Marketing and Communications
(979) 458-6425
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lcopelin@tamus.edu