Konrad Johnson An A&M Story

“If I ever come back one day to give a speech to students,” says finance major Konrad Johnson ’11, “it’s going to be called ‘How 13 Votes Can Make a Difference.’ Because 13 votes got me elected into Student Senate. Thirteen total.”

Konrad’s adventures in student leadership started shortly after the Rio Hondo, TX, native arrived at Texas A&M. Coming from the Science Academy of South Texas, a magnet high school in Mercedes that was long on academics but short on outside-the-classroom activities, he had learned there was more to a balanced education than the admittedly valuable knowledge found between the covers of his textbooks. He wanted a college that would offer him the chance to work with top-flight student leaders and mentors and enable him to grow as a person, and he had a pretty good idea which school that would be.

“My dad, Darrel ’77, attended Texas A&M,” he says with a grin, “and my twin sisters, Annika and Danae, were class of ’08. I applied to a couple of schools, but told my parents, ‘I like A&M and I’m just going to make it easy on y’all. That’s where I want to go.’”

But when Konrad got to Aggieland, he suddenly realized wanting to get involved was one thing, knowing how to go about it was something else. How could a freshman from a small town in South Texas possibly hope to shine among 48,000 peers? Fortunately, Konrad had joined the Leadership Living Learning Community, or L3C, which brought him into contact with the group’s adviser, Dr. Craig Rotter.

“He helped me understand the student involvement side of Texas A&M,” Konrad remembers. “[Dr. Rotter] said, ‘Don’t worry about being a freshmen, apply for student leadership positions. Set your mind on going after something larger than you feel you can accomplish, and go for it!’ So, I applied for a vice president position in the Residence Hall Association (RHA).”

Konrad got the job. And that was the beginning.

Facebook and 13 Votes

Realizing his involvement with RHA would end when he moved off campus his sophomore year, Konrad started to look for other opportunities. A friend suggested he run for the Student Senate, however there was a slight problem with that idea.

“I had missed the filing date,” he explains. “My friend said, ‘That’s okay, you can pull a write-in campaign. Get on Facebook and try to find as many constituents from your caucus as you can who will write you in.’” Konrad shakes his head. “Some student senators have to receive 2,000 votes to win, but thirteen write-in votes got me into the Student Senate.”

Konrad made the most of that handful of votes. Now that he had a foot in SGA’s door, so to speak, opportunity knocked again and again. After serving as a Southside senator, he applied for and was selected to be on the SGA’s Executive Council as the Student Advocate for Student Services, advising the student body president on matters relating to Dining Services, Transportation Services, student fees, Beutel Health Center, and the Rec. He helped revamp the way students got tickets for the basketball games and represented students on numerous university committees, including the Council on Built Environment, Athletics Task Force, Deferred Maintenance Task Force, and Implementation Task Force for Athletics. He also chaired the SGA Fee Committee that evaluated all proposed student fee increases, later co-presenting with President R. Bowen Loftin at the university-wide tuition/fee hearing.

“One thing led to the next,” he says, “and one day I decided, ‘I’m going to apply for Executive Vice President of Student Government.’ I did and got it. I never sought higher leadership roles only for the titles, but genuinely tried to give as much as I could in order to make Texas A&M a better place.”

That’s a work ethic he attributes to his entrepreneurial dad and other hard-working family leaders back home in south Texas. How has this approach worked out for him? We’ll let you be the judge: Konrad Johnson eventually worked his way up to Chairman of the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board (CSAB), working alongside and leading the 13 student body presidents from all the System schools.

An A&M Story

This past year, the true meaning of his involvement became clear to Konrad. As Chairman of CSAB, he was presenting before the TAMUS Board of Regents, speaking to them on behalf of students and student leaders from across the system, when the truth dawned on him.

“I was sharing the heartbeat of what students were concerned about and what student leaders hoped to accomplish and work on,” he recalls, “when I suddenly realized, One person can truly make a difference. One person’s contribution can impact the lives of 120,000 students.” He smiles as he adds, “For me, all it took was 13 votes and a desire to serve my university.

“But had it not been for this [Aggie] community that pours into the lives of others,” he muses, “my experience wouldn’t have been possible. That’s what’s so unique about this place, what this university stands for. Any student here can have an experience like this. This isn’t just my story, it’s a Texas A&M story, repeated time and time again.”

Interestingly enough, Konrad isn’t the only member of the Johnson family to attend Mays Business School—his father and twin sisters all earned business degrees at Texas A&M, as well. Recognized for his contribution at Texas A&M, Konrad was awarded the prestigious Buck Weirus Spirit Award his freshman year, and later the Influential Leaders of Aggieland Award in 2010. Upon graduating in December 2011, Konrad hopes to pursue a career of business in management and financial operations. While he’s at it, he aims to “work hard, learn continuously, and always give back,” with an eye to owning his own business somewhere down the road.

Want to know more about the Leadership Living Learning Community? Visit http://reslife.tamu.edu/housing/llc/l3c.asp.

For more information on the Residence Hall Association, please visit http://rha.tamu.edu/about.

You’ll find more information on Student Government at http://sga.tamu.edu/.

If you’re interested in learning more about the Chancellor’s Student Advisory Board, go to http://www.tamus.edu/offices/chancellor/csab/.