Houston K-Stater stays connected to K-State through community, helps launch new event
Jennifer Tryon ’09 moved to Houston, Texas, for an internship. She loved it. She met her husband, Ben ’08, there. She decided to make it her home.
“I never expected to end up here,” she said. “I'm from Kansas City. I planned to come do the internship, go back and then live in Kansas City. I fell in love with the area and Texas. I met my husband and loved the company I was working for and so I came back here. I've been here since 2009 and it feels like home now.”
There are more than 15,500 Wildcats in Texas with 3,133 alumni and friends in the Houston area. It is not uncommon for Tryon to run into a K-Stater at the grocery store or running errands. That bit of purple helped her find community.
“It definitely is something that’s surprising,” she said. “The number of people that you run into that either are from K-State or have a connection to someone who is from K-State. K-Staters are passionate enough that they talk about it, and so people identify with that.”
The Tryons have stayed connected to K-State through the purple community they’ve found in Houston. They served on the planning committee for the Houston Wabash CannonBall, have helped with K-State watch parties and been involved in other ways like the annual golf tournaments.
They are now helping launch a new event called the Houston Crawfish Boil, on April 5.
Crawfish boils are a very common cultural experience in the Houston area and the Gulf Coast in general. Typically, they occur in the spring and serve as a great community connector as the meal is a hands-on event.
"It's a really social event, it's family friendly, it's a great opportunity to connect with old friends and to make new ones," she said. "While you are peeling the crawfish, it allows for time to socialize and have good conversation."
The Tryons have hosted crawfish boils at their home – Ben even learned how to do a boil in the traditional Cajun style.
"Hopefully the crawfish boil will fill the need for building K-State connections in the Houston area," she said. “Because, when you have events away from Kansas, it feels a little bit like you're meeting friends you didn't know you had. You have an instant connection with someone because you have a shared experience in your background having lived in Manhattan. With Texas kind of being a culture all its own, and being a transplant, having that Kansas connection really helps the second you see another K-Stater.”
What does a crawfish taste like? Tryon described it as similar to a shrimp but with less structure.
"You're peeling a larger shell to get to the smaller amount of meat," she said. "Depending on who's cooking it and how they cook it, it could be spicy or more buttery. There are usually sausage or vegetables like potatoes or mushrooms served alongside the crawfish. Some people serve it with sauces and some prefer without. It depends on personal preference."
This year’s Houston Crawfish Boil will be hosted at Karbach Brewing Company. Learn more about the event or to register.