An update on an exciting time

Hey Folks!

It has been a very exciting semester so far! I am taking really interesting classes, I have a new job on campus and over winter break I was able to take an amazing trip through my summer internship!

This semester has been very interesting. I am taking classes unlike anything I have taken in the past, so the opportunities to learn new things have been abundant. I am in a hydrology class, where we discuss issues like soil erosion and ground water runoff. In my insect behavior class, we have learned all about how to manage pest insects while caring for our beneficial insects.

In my new position with University Residences, I am developing training material and working with new and returning employees to further train and develop our staff. I am excited to be able to have a leadership and management position within University Residences while being a student. This position will be invaluable as I progress in my professional career.

I also mentioned that over winter break I had the amazing opportunity to go to Hawaii as part of last summers internship with Beck's Hybrids. I was pollinating corn in their winter nursery. While pollinating corn in Hawaii was a unique enough experience, I also was able to spend my off time exploring the Island with both old and new friends. This experience was definitely one of the most unique parts of my college education, and couldn't have been possible without Purdue Agronomy!

Thanks!

Nick

Hello fellow Boiler Fans!! 

It’s a good day to be a boilermaker, after that win against Penn State!! 

This semester has been pretty busy for me so far! 

At the begging of February I helped with the Purdue Agriculture Alumni Fish Fry. I enjoyed this experience! I was a part of the “official coffee crew” for the day. We had a traveling cart to offer people coffee, and it’s amazing how much people’s face light up when you offer therm free coffee! It was a neat opportunity to get to help with the annual fish fry. I got the chance to visit with a few alumni, which was enjoyable.

From my past post, you might know I’m a member of the Purdue Horticulture Society. I am the special events coordinator this year. I organized or annual Valentine’s Day Rose sale that we had last week. Over all it went really well! We nearly sold out, starting with 800 roses!!! Thank you to all who supported our club! 

This past weekend was also very busy. Saturday started at 5:30 in the morning for me and my family. We left to head north, to Michigan for the day. I went snow skiing at Bittersweet Resort with the family. We had a great day! 

Sunday I joined my family for church and then we went to my grandmas for dinner. After dinner I left to come back to Purdue for the Purdue vs. Penn State game! What a game to watch! I’m looking forward to the last home game against Minnesota this weekend! My friends and I are planing to get there extra early to try to get really good seats. 

On Monday, Purdue held the admitted students visit. My brother came to visit. He visited informational sessions to start the day. And because he knows an Agronomy Ambassador (me) he got the privilege to meet Dr. Lee Schweitzer and attend one of his classes with me. He enjoyed visiting Purdue and is excited to attend her next year! 

There are now only 2 weeks left until spring break! I wish you all the best with any exams you have before then! 

As always, 

Boiler Up! Hammer Down!

Ashley

Time is Flying By

Hello Everyone!

As we approach the half-way point of the semester it is hard to know where the past six weeks have gone! As the last semester of my senior year winds down, it is certainly a bittersweet moment, but exciting as I plan on moving forward in my life.

One thing that is very comforting about a degree from Purdue’s Agronomy Department are the opportunities that come with it. Many students choose between either jumping right into a career or decide to get a masters and attend graduate school. I personally struggled with deciding on what to do because I have worked in a research lab for the past five semesters and enjoyed my time. However, after thinking it over for quite some time, I have decided to pursue a career in industry. This decision did not come easy, however thinking long term I believe that an MBA would suit my career aspirations better. This is something to think about when you are entering your freshman or sophomore year. What do I want to do after graduation? What is your dream job? Even if you do not know, explore your options. If you think that research is the direction that you would like to go, venture into research during your undergraduate time at Purdue. There are plenty of opportunities to work in a research lab and gain experience. It is certainly better to explore what you like and dislike before it is too late. Personally, I do not like sales. I had a sales-based internship and decided that it is not the field for me. It was better for me to figure this out while I was still an undergrad, rather than having to learn this the hard way in a job. 

Although many of you may be nervous about coming to college, it is an extremely rewarding feeling knowing that you have successfully moved onto a new chapter in your life.

If you have any questions regarding Purdue in any, please do not hesitate to ask!

Nicholas Fanning
njfannin@purdue.edu

Another Semester Underway

School is well underway this semester! As a sophomore, I have cleaned up most of my general education classes now and am taking more classes geared on what agronomy is about. This semester I am taking a soil fertility class which dives into the chemistry behind soil and how nutrients move within soil and what they do in plants. In the soil fertility lab we are learning about the different processes that soil testing labs perform when they test soils for pH, phosphorous, OM, etc. This has given me a general idea of the time that a proper soil test takes and what a lab has to do. Another class that is very practical to me is my agribusiness management class. In this class we broadly cover economics and then dive into farm accounting. The professor’s goal in this course is not necessarily to teach us how to organize financial statements, but to be able to read them and effectively evaluate them for the business when making decisions. Two other notable classes that continue to educate me are the soils and crops judging teams. On the soils team, you continually learn how to classify soil and you have the opportunity to learn about and see soils in other states. On the crops team, we are prepping for the NACTA competition which covers almost anything you can think of in Agronomy from soil fertility, Live plant and seed identification, lab equipment, farm machinery, sprayer calculations, general agronomy math, and even an agronomy exam where they can ask any sort of agronomy question. This is my semester here at Purdue and it’s a great place to be!

Opportunities at Purdue

Hello Everyone!

I am in the home stretch of Senior year! This is a weird but bittersweet feeling. For my last semester I am only taking 12 credit hours. I have never takin anything less than 18! I wanted to really enjoy my last semester at Purdue. I wanted to make sure that I could focus on my 12 credit hours and be successful but also be able to attend basketball games and take as many opportunities that I can.

One new thing that came my way was a new job! The last three semester I was a TA for AGEC 331. This is a Ready, Set, Sell class. All semester you focus on a product and at the end of the semester we bring in industry professionals and you have to perform a sales pitch for them. I highly recommend this class! When I took it as a Freshman I gained a lot of skills that really helped prepare me for my summer internship. But the new opportunity that came my way was to work with one of my favorite professors, Dr. Johnson. I have been grinding forage tissue samples at ACRE. I absolutely love working in this lab and helping with research! I have huge trash bags that contain smaller brown paper bag in it. Within the brown paper bags are the forage tissue samples that were harvested last summer/fall. I empty the trash bags into a really big oven to help dry out the samples a little more. I then have to sort the bags with the corresponding containers after it dries a little more. I then take the samples into the grinding room. From there I put the clumps of grass into the top of the grinder and let it feed through the grinder. The end product comes out into a Ball jar that is attached at the bottom of the machine. After it is finely ground I have to mix the sample up really good and then I put it into a small cup that has information on it.

One piece of advice for a student that is entering college is to get to know your professors very well. They will be connections that will help you out for the rest of your career. They also could potentially help you gain experience that is also important when looking for  internships.

If you have any questions feel free to get ahold of me!

Madison Boston

boston0@purdue.edu

Top Option Club

Hello Everyone,

We are the top option club!

This past week the Ag council hosted their annual Leadership conference with sponsor Land O’Lakes. The evening consisted of a meal, Land O’Lakes presentation on Managing your Boss, and a panel discussion. The Agronomy club had several representatives present and we were honored to win the top option club in the college of Ag for the past year. We earned the award by being involved in Ag council activities such as the farmer olympics, leadership retreat, and others. We also earned points for our involvement in community service activities throughout the year.

Agronomy Club Members at the Ag Council Leadership Conference

The Agronomy club has offered me a lot over my college career. As a junior, I am serving as the vice president and have had other leadership roles in the past. As a freshman, the agronomy club introduced me to a lot of new friends and gave me some great opportunities to grow as an individual. I have traveled to Arizona, Texas, and Florida to compete and learn about agriculture in other states during the national and regional SASES(students of agronomy, soils, and environmental sciences) meetings.

If I had to give new agronomy students advice I’d tell them to get involved with the agronomy club early on. It is a great opportunity to learn outside of class and enjoy good company in the department.

God Bless and Boiler Up! 

Andrew Chupp 

                                Great Start to the Semester

    Good Evening Everyone, 

   This semester has started off grate as I take a brake from studying for my last exam in the first set of exams I have. I wanted to congratulate and get the word out that the Agronomy Club again was awarded the choice club award from the Purdue Agriculture Counsel. This is just another way to prove on how grate the agronomy department and the Agronomy Club are especially with the help of Sherry, Jane, and all the other staff getting students ready life after their time at Purdue. Now the college experience is not always have to be with club trips and academic things.

   In this I want to reflect on while at college it is never a bad time to make student life and other goals in life come true. For me this semester I have lived this by driving out to Colorado for the Nation Western Stock Show, and I have also had plans or something to do every weekend this semester making this weekend my first trip back home since the start of the semester back in January. The main point to take away is don't thank that during a semester that anyone person is stuck to campus or West Lafayette the entire time.

  So it is time to get back to studying for me, but it is in the hands of each of us to make our time here at Purdue a time we can remember and cherish. 

Hope Everyone finishes their semesters strong.

  Kyle Fogle 

Do That Extra Credit!

Good afternoon Boilermakers!

These past few semesters have been filled with opportunity.

It's surprising how many college professors offer extra credit in their classes. What is also surprising is how many students don't participate in these opportunities. Agecon 330 is one of the classes that offers a whopping 80 points. In this class if you had a 90% by the end of the semester, you would be exempt from the final exam.

Now the semester got busy, and extra credit was not my top priority. It was always in the back of my mind to get the extra credit done. Then, November 20th rolled around, the date for full acceptance of all 80 points of extra credit. As you can guess I didn't have it all done. Then the next week went by and I turned all the extra credit for the remaining points.

Finally, the end of the semester came and I found out if I had to take the final or not. I had an 88.7%. I was so close to the 90%, but not close enough. I had to do what I had to do and take the final exam. After the final I ended the class strongly even though I could've avoided the stress of studying and not had to take it.

Moral of the story DO THE EXTRA CREDIT!

Olivia Lake

Boiler Up for Purdue Basketball!

Fellow & Future Boilers!

How about that basketball team?! Now don't get me wrong, I have shared many times about how great the Agronomy department is, how kind the professors are, and what great opportunities are here on Purdue's campus; however, you have to enjoy the student life too. I personally LOVE going to Purdue sporting events. It is a time you see all the students and alumni join together to support our university. Lately a lot more people have been enjoying this experience at home Purdue basketball games.



This team is breaking news and bringing fans with their school record-breaking 18 win streak! Let's make that a 19 game streak this Saturday against Rutgers shall we? This team is very exciting to watch because they keep the games interesting. Compared to games last year, it seems like the team has a little more harmony. They seem to be more in sync with one another and work together towards a common goal. They have the playbook, the coaches, and the support from their fans so all they have to do is believe and work hard. It takes some talent and a whole lot of passion to work towards records never met before and I give a lot of credit to the members of this team.

This is all very similar to students who go for their degrees at Purdue. In the past I have shared that we have great coaches and support from family, friends, and faculty. Each student has their peers to lean on in tough classes and so all you have to do is work hard and believe you want and can get that degree. So we all cheer on incoming Boilers next fall and right now let's cheer on this basketball team!

Boiler Up & Hammer Down!

Dakota Westphal

Agronomic Business & Marketing
email: dwestpha@purdue.edu