Road Trip!

In case anybody is curious, the drive between Lexington, Kentucky and Champaign, Illinois is not short.  To make matters more interesting, my anticipated route was hindered by closed roads in Louisville, the possibility of epic traffic jams in Indianapolis because of the Superbowl, and rainy weather.  Although I was excited about being in Champaign over the weekend, I was not looking forward to the drive up. 

Thank goodness for a great friend who accompanied me on my drive!  Even in the rainy conditions and occasional traffic, we had fun on our miniature quest.  Our trip was marked by continuous conversation, a relatively painless pass through Indianapolis during the Superbowl (which was pretty cool), humored disbelief that every radio station seemed to be playing the same three songs over and over, and apartment hunting in Champaign.  Yikes!  It is hard to believe that graduation and graduate school are just a few months away!

Carrie & her fellow ambassadors prepare to throw out footballs during Roundup

As graduation in May approaches and my time as a Wildcat draws to a close, I have had some time to reflect upon the four years I have spent at the University of Kentucky.  When I was in high school, I knew I wanted to complete my undergraduate degree, to go on to either graduate school or a professional program, and to do a really good job in my classes.  These goals remained relatively unchanged over the course of my undergraduate studies, even in the face of obstacles such as diabolical classes that made me wonder if I was going to lose my sanity before I graduated from UK.  Yet, as a high school student I did not consider how much I would enjoy college.  The trip my friend and I made last weekend provides an excellent example of one of the things I enjoy most: spending time with friends and having a blast.

College is a great opportunity for many reasons.  As a student in the UK College of Agriculture, I love how my professors devote themselves to the education of their students, that there are plenty of opportunities to be involved in undergraduate research, that I have been able to travel all over the United States, that there are numerous extracurricular activities in which students can participate, and that I have met so many amazing people.  Ultimately, college is an exciting training and transition period between high school and a career.

So, in many ways, college is like a road trip.  You have to know where you are starting at, where you want to go, and the route you want to take.  When you are starting out, it may seem like a long ride to your final destination.  You may even encounter traffic jams and road blocks along the way.  But, I think most students agree that college is a fun and rewarding journey.  

Carrie is a senior at the University of Kentucky, majoring in Horticulture, Plant & Soil Sciences.  She is from Princeton, Kentucky.  She is involved with  the COA Agriculture Student Council, and post graduation, she will be attending graduate school in plant breeding and genetics.

The Value of an Agricultural Degree

There has been much discussion the past few days about the value and worth of a degree in agriculture.  A popular website ran a piece in its Education section detailing a listing of “useless college degrees.”  Many of our alumni, faculty, staff and students responded with their views on the true worth of a degree in agriculture.  We applaud the agriculture community for coming to the defense of the sector.

Agriculture careers make up one in four jobs in the United States.  As many know, the agriculture industry is as widely diverse as the people in this country.  Nearly every aspect of daily life has a connection to agriculture and it is one of the career tracks where there is always opportunity to adapt.  Reports  like the “Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in Food, Renewable Energy, and the Environment, United States, 2010-2015” (http://www.ag.purdue.edu/usda/employment/pages/default.aspx), put out by the United States Department of Agriculture, paint a different picture than the article in question did yesterday.  At the UK College of Agriculture, 90 percent of our graduates reported they had a full time job, part-time job or were pursuing an advanced degree in the 2010-2011 exit survey.

The University of Kentucky College of Agriculture supports students going to college and earning their degree, whether that be in agriculture, human environmental sciences, or any program in the country.  There has never been a better time for students to step up to the challenges of an increasing world population, economic recovery, or simply to make a difference in their community than now.  Agriculture needs students who can rise to these challenges and commit to making a difference.  Colleges of agriculture around the country are the perfect places for young minds and young leaders to enroll and begin making the difference today.  The jobs are there, as are the opportunities. 

Dr. Scott Smith                                                          Jason Headrick

Dean                                                                          Director of Student Relations

University of Kentucky                                               University of Kentucky

College of Agriculture                                                College of Agriculture

Growing future scientists isn't all that UK Horticulture, Plant & Soil Sciences does...but it's a BIG part!

Wow, last week was AMAZING!  During October 16 – 19, thousands of students, professors, and other individuals in the public and private sectors of plant and soil science met in beautiful (and warm) San Antonio for the annual ASA-CSSA-SSSA Meetings.  While there, I had the opportunity to attend symposia on just about anything and everything imaginable, but some of my favorites were the presentations on plant genetics and the new technologies that will help us meet the nutritional needs of a growing population.  Plus, I had the chance to speak with graduate school representatives, recruiters from private industry, and other students in plant and soil sciences from around the nation. 

There were numerous activities throughout the week, to say the least.  Just walking around in the exhibition hall where the graduate students were presenting their research posters was somewhat overwhelming.  The research that is currently being conducted in the agricultural sciences is absolutely phenomenal.  Yet, even more exhilarating is the prospect of improving the lives of people all across the world by using this and subsequent research and by training young individuals who want to make a difference.

Actually, this brings me to why I was able to attend the annual meetings both this year and last year.  I am a Golden Opportunity Scholar alumnus, and this year was the fifth year anniversary of the program.  Each year, the Golden Opportunity Scholars Institute fully funds the travel, lodging, and registration expenses of a few undergraduate students in agronomy, crop, or soil science so that these students can attend the annual meetings.  Since this year marked the fifth year anniversary of the program, alumni were also given financial support to return for the reunion.  I was able to reunite with the other 2010 scholars and to meet scholars from this year and from years past.  Certainly, the connections that the current scholars and alumni made will prove valuable as we progress into our respective careers.

As part of the program, each student is paired with a mentor according to his or her interests.  It is the program’s hope that the mentoring relationship extends beyond the duration of the meetings.  For me personally, the mentor-mentee relationship has been invaluable.  It led to an internship in a field of research that I love, and my mentor gave wonderful advice when I asked him about graduate school.  And, he is simply an awesome individual who is willing to invest his time, energy, and knowledge in helping train young individuals who are interested in plant breeding.  This program is truly a golden opportunity.

To think that I would not have had these experiences if my advisor, department chair, and another UK professor had not nominated me to be a Golden Opportunity Scholar and helped me put together my application is mind-boggling.  But, this is a perfect example of one of the reasons why I love being a Plant and Soil Science student at UK: the professors care about their students and are willing to go the extra mile to ensure that their students succeed.  These professors invest their time in training their students so that we, as college graduates, are prepared for the thousands of jobs that become available in plant and soil science each year in the United States alone.  Hats off to UK’s Department of Plant and Soil Science for a job well done!

Carrie B., Future Plant Geneticist