Traveling with Purdue Agronomy
Through my involvement with Purdue Agronomy, I have had the wonderful opportunity to travel across the country to events centered around agriculture. On every trip I have gone on, I have met people from around the world and made friends with students from other schools that share my passions. I don’t know about you, but I never had anyone growing up that shared my passion, I was the only one in my whole school that grew up in the agriculture industry. Being at Purdue with students that want to learn the same things as me has been so cool. What is even more exciting is the out of state connections I have made.
My freshman year I was able to travel to North Platte Nebraska with the crops judging team. While we were out there I really got to know some of the people that have turned out to be my best college friends, I hardly knew their names at the beginning of the trip. We competed in multiple contests, and I got to step out of my comfort zone and compete in the Ag computers contest. We ended up winning first place, which was unexpected but so cool!
My sophomore year I got involved in SASES and was able to travel to the fall meeting in Baltimore Maryland, and Manhattan Kansas for Spring SASES. Both of these trips were times that I grew close with the other students from Purdue, but made friends with students from Iowa, South Dakota, Ohio, North Carolina, and more, I still talk to all of them today. We have even made talked about meeting up outside of these organized events! On these trips we got to sharpen out skills by competing in competitions, networking, and going on awesome tours around the different states we were visiting.
This fall I went to St. Lous Missouri for SASES and got to reconnect with the past friends I had made. Looking forward to this semester, I am eager to go Ohio State University for the SASES spring meeting, and Twin Falls Idaho for the crops competition. I would not have been able to have these opportunities if I didn’t get involved in the college of Agriculture. I am so thankful for these experiences, and I look forward to my final year!