Student achievement! Parent involvement! Reciprocal fractions! Swag! Space hair! The halls of the Omni Austin Hotel were buzzing with enthusiastic discussion about these (and oh-so many more) hot topics during the 2013 Goals in Mind Texas GEAR UP State Conference. Taking place in downtown Austin November 3-5, the meeting of the minds brought GEAR UP team members together from all across the state to share, learn, innovate and get even more inspired to continue fostering college-going cultures throughout Texas.



Conference attendees enjoyed presentations on everything from summer technology camps to emotional intelligence to peer mentoring to financial literacy—to name just a few. Ideas were flowing fast, and conversations were keeping right up. Keynote speakers Dr. Bernard Harris, Dr. Robert Duke and Dr. Hector Ruiz spoke passionately about making it to outer space, the way we learn most effectively, and the importance of building confidence in Hispanic students. There was also ample time to network with fellow TXGU’ers, hear the latest from college-readiness vendors, and even kick back while soaking up a bit of that legendary Austin local-music scene.



There also happened to be a big unveiling at the conference—this very website made its official debut in front of the excited attendees. (Check out the video above to see exactly how it premiered.) If you want to stay in the loop on all the useful resources being added to the site, be sure to sign up for the TXGU newsletter at the very bottom of the page.

(And if you have questions about the swag you got—or coveted from afar—at the conference? Shoot them to info@texasgearup.com.)

Of course, now that we’ve all got our goals firmly in mind, we can’t wait to see what next year’s conference brings!