The College Bound wAGon

 [Writer’s Note: This will be part one of a multi-post installment on preparing yourself for college and truly taking a look at how to make the process easier on you and your family.  I hope you enjoy.]

     For seniors in high school, this is the time of year when lots of things are happening- and probably very fast.  Between running to band practice and Friday night football games and working your part-time job at the local sub shop, you are a student on a path to your future.  People ask where you are going to college, what you are going to major in, and a part of you is always asking yourself the same question.  You may be getting these questions as a junior or sophomore, too. 

     After working in college admissions for nearly ten years, let me pull you inside the inner circle and let you in on some “inside” information.  I am going to discuss some of the questions I get the most often and offer some advice.

Anything I can do before I start applying to make it easier?   

     Simply said, yes.  Think of these steps as stretching before the big race.

     Ask yourself why you want to go to college.  The two most common answers I hear are to reach your goals and to start a career.  These are great answers and everyone will have different factors.  Use these factors to begin narrowing your college search down to the schools that fit you and what you are looking for.  There are over 7,000 higher education institutions in the U.S. according to US Department of Education statistics, so it is important to narrow your choices.  Ultimately, campus visits are great ways to narrow the search and can put you inside the action to see if that campus is for you. 

     Get a planner.  [Note: You are going to hear this a few times, so just stop reading now and head to the store.]  This can come in very handy when you start interacting with the colleges on your list (see above). 

     Take the ACT or SAT.  Each student tests differently and some states are more geared on taking one or the other.  Let that be up to the individual student.  We suggest taking each test at least twice in order to power up your score and so the student can have a good grasp on the format.  I’ve met students who take it once and score near-perfect and I have met students who have taken it seven times to reach their goal.  Seven is excessive.  That takes the power off of the student and gives it to the test.  Get a study guide and go through it for 5 minutes a day at least leading up to your test.  Don’t cram the week before by reading the special hints and working on the sections you know or don’t know.  Read the whole thing.  You can also get some great help from your smartphone or email inbox by checking out the different apps out there and online features of the sites below.

ACT: http://www.actstudent.org/ (Check out the Question of the Day box.)

SAT:  http://sat.collegeboard.org/home (They also have Question of the Day.)

Okay- that’s enough reading for one day from me.  I’ll be back with another installment of “The College Bound wAGon” next week where we’ll talk about applying to college and what to major in.  In the meantime,  send your questions to me at Jason.Headrick@uky.edu.  I’m glad to hear your questions or get your feedback on this and other posts.

Jason

Director of Student Relations, UK Ag

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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

UK Ag Alums to Compete on the CBS Show "Amazing Race"

Check out an interview in the Kentucky Kernel with Liz & Marie Canavan, graduates of the UK College of Agriculture in Community & Leadership Development!  Thanks for giving UK Ag and some of our great professors a shoutout!

http://kykernel.com/2011/09/22/qa-with-amazing-race-contestants-uk-grads/

See Liz and Marie Canavan on the first episode Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. on CBS.

Drop Your Jeans for a Good Cause!

Officers of the MAT Club

The countdown has begun and we are officially one-fourth of the way into the semester.  Between Ag Roundup and the start of the Cotton Incorporated Denim Drive, time has flown by.  Roundup was a blast and we used this awesome alumni event to kickoff our 2011 Denim Drive.  The denim drive is a program that our Merchandising, Apparel and Textiles Club holds each year.  Sponsored by Cotton Incorporated, this is the club’s third official year of participation.

The MAT Club began participating in 2008 and since then, we have collected almost 20,000 pairs of jeans!  The jeans and denim items that we collect are sent off and processed into insulation for Habitat for Humanity homes.  Our 2010 denim drive set the record for the most jeans collected by a University, 11,278 pairs!  These jeans insulated 24 homes and diverted 8.5 tons of waste from the landfill!

We collect on campus, in the community, and throughout the state at county Cooperative Extension offices, high schools, and churches.  Carhartt Inc. out of Irvine, Kentucky is a large contributor to the drive as well. We are also depending on you as students at the University of Kentucky to help us collect even more than last year. 

You can donate your jeans now until October 31^st in the following locations:  Ag Science North lobby, Erikson Hall, Commons, Blazer Café, and the Center for Community Outreach in the Student Center. 

For more information visit the following website: http://www.cottonfrombluetogreen.org/

And be sure to Drop Your Jeans for a Good Cause!

Meredith,  Merchandising, Apparel & Textile Senior

Roundup and Wildcats and Classes....Oh My!

 

Wow, what an awesome start to the semester!  The past three weeks have been amazing, even if they have been hectic with the start of classes, catching up with friends I haven't seen all summer, UK Ag Roundup events, UK Preview Nights, and so much more. 

You might be wondering just what Roundup is.  UK Ag Roundup could be compared to a homecoming for the College of Agriculture.  Throughout the week, there are events for prospective, current, and former students, faculty and staff, and other groups such as Kentucky legislators, and the Lexington Rotary Club.  Without doubt, food, fun, and prizes are always in abundance.  During Roundup, I had the opportunity to meet UK President Capilouto.  I also met one of the candidates for Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, Kentucky legislators, current UK students, UK alumni, and former Ag Ambassadors.  I was so excited at Roundup on Saturday because I finally got to meet a really sweet lady from my hometown that my family had told me so much about! 

I am awestruck by the number of contacts I have made during my time as a UK student.  In addition to the phenomenal people named above, I have been able to make many professional contacts.  Another great aspect of being a student at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture is that students are encouraged to participate in internships.  As part of my internship this past summer, I studied how biotechnological traits incorporated into corn performed under field conditions, used descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze research data, presented these findings at a conference at the end of my internship, and was involved in other aspects of corn field research.  The experience I had was excellent and has further prompted me to study plant breeding and genetics in graduate school. 

Plus, there are so many exciting and diverse opportunities waiting for graduates in this field.  Plant and soil scientists have the task of creating and using the latest technology to satisfy the world's food, fiber, and fuel needs.  All the while, the earth's population is quickly growing and we must be able to produce these products in a way that is sustainable.  It's great knowing that the research you are working on is going to help other people.

To say the very least, I am excited for my senior year at UK.  I have met many wonderful people already, my classes are fantastic, and I am preparing for what is sure to be a great adventure in grad school.  Of course, I am going to enjoy the adventure of senior year first!

Carrie B.,

Horticulture, Plant & Soil Science Senior

I'm Seeing Blue.....

Gabe, The Wildcat, & Tatum at the Paducah See Blue Preview Night! UK just started a few weeks back and I feel like there is so much that has been going on!  I am one of the UK Ag Ambassadors and we have hit the ground running.  Last week kicked off UK See Blue Preview Night season, and this week ambassadors are busy traveling to and from preview nights as well as enjoying the fun and hard work that comes with Ag Roundup Week! We love having our alumni back on the College of Ag’s campus, as well as talking to potential Wildcats! Speaking of talking to potential wildcats, my fellow ambassador, Gabe, and I, as well as our fabulous and fearless leader Jason Headrick (AKA- Director of Student Relations for the College of Ag), traveled to Preview Night last week in Paducah, KY. Hailing from Murray, I loved getting to speak to students back in the wonderful Western part of our state. Sometimes I find that students in Western Kentucky are a little more intimidated by UK, since it’s quite the distance from home. I was scared to venture four hours away from home (and into a different time zone!) at first too, but once I started taking classes in the College of Ag I found my home away from home. Not only have I made some great friendships, the College of Ag always has opportunities to get involved- whether it be Block and Bridle, Collegiate FFA, Ag Student Council, or MAT Club (plus many, many more!). We have ambassadors involved in all of the clubs I mentioned, and I think that really helps us relate to future wildcats. It’s easy to dispel the myths that UK is too big or too far, when our average class size is 25 in the College of Ag, and everywhere you go you see a familiar face. I’ve also been gifted with some very neat opportunities through the College of Ag- like getting to meet Leadership Expert John Maxwell through Grace Gorrell’s Leadership Development class. Students in the College of Ag have also even heard from our famous basketball coach, John Calipari!  The Ag Ambassadors were even able to present him with some chili for lunch! The family atmosphere and wonderful opportunities have truly made my three years in the College of Ag at UK great. As I start my fourth and final year, I can only hope that future Wildcats can take full advantage of the opportunities I’ve been given. I love sharing my feelings about our big family over at the College with potential students. If the UK Crew is coming to a town near you (and I bet they are!), come out and say hello, and ask the Ag Ambassadors why they love UK Ag so much! Tatum Public Service & Leadership Senior UK See Blue Preview Night Schedule

On, On, U of K.....Ag Blog!

You can feel the anticipation in the air.  You can hear the faint sound of the UK marching band practicing in the background as you walk across campus.  Students are already on campus in preparation for move-in next week and all of the K Week activities.  UK football coverage is on all the local television stations.  Fall semester 2011 is here!

It's been a great summer and we are looking forward to a great new group of incoming students and to see many returning faces back into the College.  This blog is going to be a great place for current students, alumni, friends and supporters, faculty and staff and for those of you who are thinking about becoming a UK Ag Wildcat one day to learn a little bit about UK and read some on-campus insights from some pretty special folks.

Classes officially start at UK on Wednesday, August 24, but there is lots of excitement that is going to be happening between now and then.  Check our blog early and often to see what's going on in Lexington and around the College of Agriculture.  If you ever have questions, send us an email and we'll be glad to help out!

Until then- Go BIG BLUE! 
To hear the UK Fight Song, click: http://www.uky.edu/CampusGuide/on-on.html

Jason Headrick, Director of Student Relations