The Finale

Since today is the last class of ANSC 298, I feel that my last post should be a reflection of this past semester. I think that I am leaving this semester with much more clarity than I had coming into it. At the beginning of this semester, I was still considering veterinary school as an option for me. I now realize that it is not something for me, both for my life plans and personal goals and financial reasons. I am still teetering on the idea of a master's degree or graduate school for a phD, but I am still not completely sure. I got an email yesterday from one of Dr. Cardoso's graduate students with an opportunity for me to receive my ANSC 398 credit with them next semester doing research, so I am very excited to start that! I do not know the details of the work I will be doing, but it will be with dairy cattle. Thankfully, that will allow me to see early on if research is something I like. I am still not sure what is going on in Dr. Johnson's lab since I asked her very early on in the year to help with her research, but I am glad I found another aspect/breed I like also. I do regret not getting experience this semester, but it seemed like it just wasn't in the cards. I think that without reaching out as much as I did this semester, I would not have been as confident with my newfound decisions and plans that I made for my future. For now, I would say that my plan is to keep up with my school work, keep getting on the Dean's List, keep up with my James Scholar program, and try to find a job after graduation that isn't office work and pays well. If that doesn't happen, I will return to school and get my master's degree. At least for now, I have never felt more confident with my plans for myself. I don't think that I am limiting myself or selling myself short, I am just planning for my best interests and preparing myself to be flexible when it comes to finding a job. Things may change like they always do, so maybe my plans are not set in stone, but it is a step in the right direction for the rest of my life!

Same Ol' Same Ol'

I haven't had very much going on that is new and interesting this past week. I am planning on seeing the ACES career center the week we come back from Thanksgiving break (if it is not too hectic). I just want to talk about career possibilities so I can answer someone to my best ability when they ask me what I want to do after graduation. It is so weird to think that after next semester I am halfway done! It's exciting yet scary. I really want to do my ANSC 398 next semester, and I had posted about how I talked to Dr. Cardoso about doing it at the dairy farm with his graduate students. I want to get my 398 credit so I can be more exposed to possible research project ideas because I have to do one and present it at exploreACES or the symposium. I sent him a follow up email with my availability the day after we had met and discussed it, but didn't get a response. I figured two weeks was a good waiting time, so I just sent him another one (yes, I am that annoying student). Hopefully he responds this time or his email may be subject to an unexpected ambush.

AgEd

I am shocked by the amount of people who know nothing about animal agriculture. I thought that at least people had some sort of idea of what it entails, but turns out that mostly people just have no clue what we do, why we do it, or how we do it. Today I had someone tell me they're vegan because they don't like the idea of eating eggs that could have developed into a chick. She wasn't kidding, she really thought that we eat fertilized eggs. She had absolutely no clue what to say when I told her that none of the eggs we eat are fertilized and it's against the FDA regulations to even sell fertilized eggs for consumption. These types of things really bother me because I know animal agriculture has a bad rep. There is really just a huge absence of knowledge when it comes to where our food comes from. I think this is due largely to the media, but also to an absence of agricultural education. I don't really know of a high school anywhere by me that educates their students on production practices, and I really would like to see this changed. I know I would love to work hands on with animals, but I also feel very passionately about teaching aspects of production to people who would otherwise have no exposure to it and therefore, no knowledge about it. I have considered the AgEd Masters program and am thinking more and more about it lately. I know that this career is in high demand, so it is just another career choice I may aim for!

Alas!

There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Seeing as this is my eighth week in a row of having at least one difficult exam, I could really use a pick me up. Someone must be watching over my poor soul because today two good things happened.

1- I sent Dr. Cardoso a follow up email from our meeting with my availability to work with the grad students and my specific interests. Our meeting went very well, he was really informative and gave me three options to complete my ANSC 398 credit under him. I chose the research assistant option because I love doing hands on work. I also want to see what research is all about while I'm an undergrad, so this is the perfect opportunity. This also gives me experience and knowledge to be able to eventually create my own research project for James Scholars.

2- In ANSC 298 today we had a guest speaker who worked for a company called AgriKing and she actually does research for them. The best part- SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO GET A HIGHER LEVEL DEGREE. Whew, I was excited about that one. We're always told that there are legitimate jobs out there that you can get after graduation, but we've never really been given tangible evidence of this, at least that's what I think. So it was very refreshing to find that someone has found a reliable, interesting, dynamic, and well-paying job after graduation without even having to take organic chemistry as an undergraduate.

Classes

I am officially registered for classes this upcoming spring! I followed through with my decision to not take organic chemistry this semester, and I feel surprisingly okay about it! I am taking ANSC 205, 223, 224, ACE 100, and CPSC 116. This leaves me at 17 credit hours. I tried to fit in a 400 level animal science class, but they all conflicted with my required classes or would leave me with no time to eat during the day. I'll have to try again for fall of my junior year because I need 4 400 level classes for my James Scholar completion. I am also hoping on getting my ANSC 398 credit next semester by helping out with research on a farm. Since I haven't heard anything from Dr. Johnson's graduate students about when they will finally start their project, I contacted Dr. Cardoso at the dairy farm to see if I could potentially help out with research there. I have a meeting with him today after my ASNC 103 lab, so hopefully it goes well!

After Graduation

The day to pick classes is approaching so fast!! I have been trying to make time to make a visit to the ACES Career Center but with all my midterms lately, I haven't had time. Regardless, if I can't make it before Nov 4th, I will still go because I feel like they are the only ones capable of answering my broad career questions. In the meantime, like how I said before, I am taking classes to explore my interests further. When I talk about not planning to further my education past a bachelor's at the moment, I almost feel a little embarrassed. I know I am smart enough to do it, and I feel a little guilty to not take advantage of the skills and knowledge I have been blessed with. However, right now with the way my cards are playing out, I think I will be capable of finding a successful job after graduation. Also, I plan on trying my hardest to graduate as a James Scholar and that would be so helpful in verifying my credibility and hard-work when applying to jobs.

Registration... It's so close!

I got my time ticket to register for classes the other day, and since I am a James scholar, I register November 4th. Ah! After my initial freak out, hyperventilation, my rant to my roommate about how I have no clue where I'm going with my life, and a half a package of cookies later... I think I have it figured out. I am going to wait to take organic chemistry until junior or senior year, to see where my interests take me. I'd hate to put myself through all of the work and not even need it in the end. I want to spend this time figuring out what it is that really intrigues me. There are so many things I could potentially do and species I could work with, so I'd rather get a sense of direction before taking another time-consuming class. It is hard to narrow down my choices at this point in time because I do not know enough about each facet of animal science to know if I truly don't like it yet. I really like the idea of hands-on work. I definitely do not want to be cooped up in a lab or office all day because I know I'll go crazy and get cabin fever. I also really like the idea of animal agriculture tied into environmental sciences. I remember in ANSC 101 talking about how we use cattle to restore over-farmed land, the methane production of cattle, and different things like that. I am wanting to take more classes involving these types of things, but I am not so sure which classes correlate with it. I'll have to ask one of my professors to further explain to me the opportunities in this field and the classes I could take. I think by keeping my mind open and learning more about what may interest me rather than going right into organic chemistry is the best decision for me right now.