GALVESTON, TEXAS  — Adam Morris, son of Tommy and Deborah Morris, sailed the Gulf of Mexico this summer on the General Rudder, a floating classroom for Texas A&M University at Galveston’s Texas Maritime Academy (TMA).

A graduate of Effingham County High School, Morris is a sophomore majoring in marine engineering technology at Texas A&M University at Galveston and a cadet at TMA preparing to seek a license as a merchant marine officer.

Even as cadets sail the Gulf of Mexico, they are learning and honing skills designed to put them in good stead in a variety of marine fields that are vital to the economy of Texas and the nation. Their mariner training prepares cadets for lucrative careers. Upon graduation, cadets can command $80,000 entry-level salaries and upward. Training they receive ensures a qualified maritime workforce and an economic boost for the Gulf South.

Texas A&M University at Galveston is the maritime and marine-based branch campus of Texas A&M University. It is a special-purpose institution offering academic programs, research and service in marine and maritime studies.

TAMUG is home to the Texas Maritime Academy, the only maritime academy located on the Gulf Coast. TAMUG students are known as “Sea Aggies” and, like their College Station counter-parts, receive the Aggie Ring and a Texas A&M University diploma.

For more information, go to http://www.tamug.edu/corpos/trainingship.html.