Abbey’s Transition Experience

By: Abbey VanTyne
Waterville, Ohio
Agriscience Education/Animal Sciences
Junior

Hello, I am Abbey VanTyne and I am a transition student from Ohio State’s Wooster Campus, the Agricultural Technical Institute.

My experience in being a transitioning student has been, let’s say , very interesting thus far. For those of you that don’t know, ATI is a very rural area where you will definitely see an amish buggy more than once in your visit. I have been in Columbus for about two weeks now and have already had several “city experiences” that would never be experienced in Wooster.

For example, while walking to the Kroger on High Street, I actually had to WAIT for a crosswalk signal to go off so that I could cross the street. In Wooster (or any other rural areas for that matter), there aren’t even any buttons to push when you want to cross the street, you just go whenever you want! Abby VanTyne (from CFAES blog)

 

Another thing that has happened to me since transitioning is receiving a parking ticket. In Wooster, we could drive to the Shreve Swamps and park our cars wherever we wanted! Apparently the city is super strict on where you park your car, whether you saw the designated parking signs or not. Luckily, it was only a $45 ticket and nothing too outrageous!

These are the only city run-ins that I have had since moving to Columbus. Overall, the transition really isn’t too difficult.

Is Columbus completely different from Wooster? Yes. But is the transition unbearable? Absolutely not.

I have met so many new people already and can’t wait to meet even more with the start of the semester.

Bring it on, Columbus!

 

Thank you Abbey for sharing your transition experience with us!

 

This post originally appeared on the CFAES Student Blog. Please check out their posts by other students from all areas of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

ACEL to Sponsor EXTENSION Africa Conference

The Center for African Studies (CAS) and partnering departments will host an international conference October 20th and 21st, 2014 on Agricultural Extension and Food Security in Africa.  The conference will feature paper presentations on food security, extension, gender, environment/climate change, private sector, information technology, youth and related issues on African development. The conference will be hosted at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center (Day 1) and the Fisher College of Business (Day 2).

Keynote Speakers will include
* Mr. Benedict S. Kanu, Lead Agricultural Expert, OSAN, African Development Bank, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire. Topic: “Prosects and Challenges of achieving Food Security in Africa”
* Dr. Keith Smith, Associate Vice President Agricultural Administration and Director, Ohio State University Extension. Topic: “100 Years of Cooperative Extension Service in the United States: Lessons for African Countries”
* Dr. Silim Nahdy, Executive Director, African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAS), Kampala Uganda. Topic:  “The Future of Agricultural Extension in Africa”

Why the conference? Smallholder farm families account for more than 70 percent of Africa’s one billion population. Therefore, any hopes of increasing agricultural production and achieving food security must focus on this smallholders farming sector. Extension workers constitute the main source of information on modern farming methods for these farmers. Therefore, the greatest challenge, facing African leaders is making extension more effective. However, obstacles to extension effectiveness in Africa include: salaries, benefits and transportation but more significantly, the training of extension workers. Rondinelli argues that the process of agricultural and rural development programs in Africa is becoming increasingly complex yet extension workers lack the sophistication to cope effectively with this increasing complexity. What training do extension workers need? Is a common extension model for Africa possible? How can the effectiveness of extension be measured? The College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, especially the Department of Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership, which seeks to provide technical assistance to African countries on extension must address these critical issues.  This conference, organized by the Center for African Studies and the Office of International Programs in Agriculture, provides a forum for examining the future of extension in Africa’s agricultural transformation agenda. It is hoped that the conference will lead to policy changes, curriculum reform and field experimentation on extension effectiveness.

The conference will also feature paper presentations on research topics on food security, extension, and related issues.

Conference Sponsors include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion,the International Studies Program, the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, the Middle East Studies Center, OSU Extension, and Department of  Agricultural Communication, Education and Leadership. For more information on the conference please contact Laura Joseph, Assistant Director of the Center for African Studies or Robert Agunga, Director at: (614) 292-8169 or by email at cas@osu.edu

Early Field Experience in Extension

Ericka Priest
Van Wert, Ohio
Community Leadership, Community & Extension Education
Junior

My early field experience was a real eye opener and positive experience. At the Ohio State University Van Wert County Extension Office my two weeks of experience were filled with multiple opportunities and friendly people everywhere. At the office, I worked on letters for animal taggings, cloverbud camp promotions, answering phone calls, and handling questions and problems that came into the office from the public. I also started working on getting judges ready for miscellaneous project judging. Outside of the office there were multiple different teaching opportunities.

Ericka Priest, photo 3

I was able to go to Lincolnview High School and talk to their seniors about college and the requirements of academics and financial needs. I was also able to go to Van Wert High School and help put on the Real Money Real World program to the government class from both Van Wert and Lincolnview High Schools. Other teaching opportunities I had were: horse quality assurance and a 4-H counselor meeting. Heather Gottke, 4-H youth and leadership programmer in Van Wert County, also gave the opportunity of going to the board meeting for Camp Palmer.

Ericka Priest, photo 1

This whole experience was an eye opener on how much time and dedication it takes to become an educator in extension. Extension is more than just 4-H, with all parts working together it makes a huge impact to the community.

 

Thanks Ericka for sharing about your Early Field Experience.

Cooking in the Barrio, Honduras Style

Carla Jagger
Mount Gilead, Ohio
Agricultural and Extension Education PhD student

Carla Jagger, photo 3

Our trip to Honduras was by far the best abroad experience I have had the opportunity to attend.  I loved that Dr. Cano and or other coordinators treated the trip more like a service learning experience, which allowed us to interact with the community and Hondurans more so than any other time I have traveled.  One of my most memorable moments, was the day we spent in one of the local barrios (small village) working alongside the women making 400+ tamales that they then sell for a small amount of income that goes to any woman that comes and helps with the process.

I’m all about the food when I travel anywhere so getting to observe and help with the whole preparation of what became our supper that evening was amazing!  Even though I couldn’t understand the words they were saying all the time I could usually pick up on what they were trying to communicate which I was happy about. I know there were times that they were definitely laughing at me and not necessarily with me, but I was absolutely fine with that because I was having just as much fun!  They were so welcoming and genuinely just wanted to share their expertise with all of us, which I absolutely loved and tried to indulge in. And I would say I definitely over indulged in the treats they kept presenting us with!  Overall this experience reminded me that although our cultures may be different, and we may not speak the same language, we can always find ways to positively communicate with one another.

We also had the chance to tour some of the agricultural commodities in Honduras including sugar cane production, a coffee plantation, and a milk processing plant. Like I mentioned before the trip was more about service than touring, which I believe allowed us all to learn so much more than just see what they produce in Honduras.  We were continuously working on projects for the community including, building hoop houses for small gardens, building a chicken coop, working on the gardens at a local vocational school, developing curriculum for the vocational school, plus several others.  I will never forget the experiences we had on this trip, I loved every minute of it and enjoyed taking in the Honduran culture.

Carla Jagger, photo 2

Carla Jagger, photo 1

Thanks Carla for sharing about your experience on the Community Development study abroad trip to Honduras!