I have to say Texans always get my respect, because they believe in the cliche of Don't Mess with Texas!
In our yrs in the military, it was only Texans that always had somewhere in the home the Texas flag. My favorite was when we were in KS, at Leavenworth and somebody actually painted the roof of their dog's house, the flag of Texas.
21 yrs traveling the world as a born, bred and raised NJ girl, the only flag I know on sight is the Texas flag. I could vaguely tell you the NJ flag from my mind, but I am sure it would be off alot. We lived in NC for @ 8 yrs (3 tours) of the 21, and I couldn't tell you it, 5 yrs in VA and I can tell you it is blue, with a lady and a wreath.
However for Texas, not only would I be able tell you the design, but be able to tell the color tones of the blue and red. Kind of like that Hokie thing for VT...it is not burgundy, it is called Chicago red...don't ask me why Chicago, because to this day I have yet to find someone who knows why it is called Chicago red. I can also tell you the correct tone for the orange.
ASK anyone from Texas how they describe Texas and they will say "God's country"
Got to love them. We have 2 friends in the AF that attended TAMU, met there and now retired in NC. Their kids go to nationally know colleges in NC, but on their license plate (NC has only 1 plate) they still have TAMU.
TAMU is like VT IMPO, they are what I would call RABID. The school spirit is intense, and nobody will ever convince them that there is a better school in the country. I have seen that with our DD and VT.
There is something comforting about that when you send them hours and hours away from home. It makes you happy to know that the school is a family for them, and when the school is their family you have less fears as a parent. Mainly due to the fact that they ARE motivated personally to do well academically so they can stay there. That to me is something you learn as parents. ROTC and academics are a part of their life, but if they love the school and their friends, they will succeed.
Maybe it isn't the academics or the training, maybe it is the spirit and desire to stay that motivates them to achieve higher. They know, at least AFROTC cadets, that the scholarship can be revoked, and if you can't afford to stay there without the scholarship, their world goes upside down, it is a great compliment to TAMU that so many strive so hard and are acknowledged with much higher national selection rates for SFT.