A&M-Commerce new home for Miss Teen Canada

This year, A&M-Commerce admitted a bit of northern notoriety through its doors, when Canada native Cassondra Paletta became a student. Born in Ontario, Paletta stepped into the spotlight in 2008, when she was crowned Miss Teen Canada International at the age of 17.

"It was a cool experience," Paletta said. "I got to travel all across Canada; I went to all of the provinces, and I'd never been out east before and I had never been certain places out west, so it was very cool to see all the different types of sub-cultures within my country."

During her time as Miss Teen Canada International, Paletta became the spokesperson for Teddy Bears of Hope, which is an organization that donates teddy bears to impoverished children all over the world.  With this program, Paletta was able to reach out and make a difference in the lives of others.

"We visited schools and youth groups, and we ended up collecting 60,000 teddy bears which we then shipped to Afghanistan," Paletta said. "They were distributed by The Red Cross and our armed forces there to orphanages all across Kandahar and the rest of the country."

Since her arrival at the A&M-Commerce campus, Paletta has had to adjust to many cultural differences coming from our neighbors to the north.

"My first impression was ‘wow this is really small,'" she said. "It's very cool that I get to walk into my classes and know the majority of people there, and that I get to walk into the café and always see somebody that I know there and there's pretty much always a friendly face around the corner. I really like that."

While she is happy about the relocation to Texas, there is one thing that Paletta says bugs her: crickets. For her, these insects have been a major difference in surroundings because of their abundance and size. But as Paletta puts it, "everything's bigger in Texas."

Despite growing up in a colder climate, Paletta says she feels more comfortable in the Texas weather, and believes that she will be prepared for this year's colder seasons as well.

"I love the weather, because I am not a fan of the cold," she said. "I love how warm it is here, and it makes me very happy. Here I heard you guys shut the school down for four days because of six inches [of snow]."

Paletta is currently studying Pre-Medical Biology as a part of the International American University College of Medicine, which requires students to complete 90 credit hours in the pre-medical program with a minimum 3.2 grade point average.