By: Jessica Stacy, Sustainable Plant Systems: Agronomy | Castalia OH

As a student at The Ohio State University, many opportunities are thrust upon me, leaving it up to me to take advantage of them. I come from a small town in Northern Ohio, making the transition to a large university rather difficult. When I moved down, I took advantage of a small opportunity available to many Ohio State students, to join a club. With a plethora of organizations to choose from, I found opportunity with the Crops and Soils Club.

I quickly became involved in the Crops and Soils Club on the CFAES campus. Crops and Soils Club is a club specializing in students studying Agronomy. After attending the first meeting, I learned of an opportunity to attend a conference in Tampa, Florida for students in the agronomy major. This conference is called the SASES (Students of Agronomy, Soils, and Environmental Sciences) Conference, and it is held in a different location every year. Having never been out of the state before, I quickly jumped on this chance to make friends and to break out of my shell.

After expressing interest in this trip, I was selected with 5 others to be a representative of The Ohio State University at the SASES Conference. At the conference, I would compete in a quiz bowl against other collegiate agronomy clubs. Upon my return to OSU, we had a bi-weekly Crops and Soils Club meeting. At this meeting we were holding nominations for a new officer team. After speaking about my experiences, I was elected to be the club secretary.

Finding the Crops and Soils Club was a blessing, because I have taken advantage of the many opportunities the club offers. I was very fortunate to be able to attend the trip to Tampa with my fellow Ohio State students. I have formed friendships that will not soon be broken and have gained experiences that will not soon be forgotten.

By: Abbey VanTyne, Agriscience Education & Animal Sciences | Waterville, OH

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! 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!