FFA New Horizons

College Shopping
(Continued from Page 12)
leadership positions?' I think that holds
true whether you're in high school or
college or anywhere."
A $1,000 FFA scholarship sponsored
by the Beef Industry Council helped with
the finances her freshman year.
Julie's roommate, Sherri Bentley, 19,
of Sabina, Ohio, says that, at first, walking
onto a campus of 60,000 students is a little
intimidating at first. "I was petrified," she
confesses. "But living in the dorms helps
you to meet people. You have a lot of
activities with the people on your floor
and that's how I've met a lot of people."
"Once you get settled into yourclasses,
it's like your own little college and it's
really not all that big. Most of the people
you go to class with have to take the same
classes to fulfill their requirements that
you do, so it really gets small quick."
Like many high school graduates,
Bentley was ready for a change of scenery
from her hometown. "I wanted to get
away from home. I love my family, but I
thought 1 needed to get away, get out on
my own and have to do things for myself.
I thought that if I stayed home, it would be
the same as staying in high school."
Along with a $500 FFA scholarship
sponsored by Jacques Seed Company,
Bentley also landed the Waddell Scholar-
ship offered by the county school district.
It contributes $ 1 ,000 a year for four years
to easing her tuition costs. She also re-
ceived a $ 1 .000 Scarlet and Gray scholar-
ship offered by the university.
Bentley says the scholarships have been
a great help in easing the flnancial load of
college, it was a bank account she shares
with her three sisters that has provided the
money to go to a 4-year university.
The "Bentley Sisters Account" was
started by their mother when they were
little. "The only thing we use it for is
school.We showed hogs and lambs at our
county fair and the money we got from the
winnings and selling those animals went
into the account." Her mother would also
contribute to the cause from time to time.
Bentley is a sophomore horticulture
major and is considering a career in land-
scaping.
The two roommates first met at FFA
camp her freshman year in high school
and kept in touch by writing each other on
and off over the years. When they heard
each other was going to Ohio State, they
arranged to room together.
After the initial shock of the big campus
as a freshman, Bentley says she has no
Dr. Joy McMillan, left, developed the agricultural biotechnology program at the
MATC. After just two years, Robert Mickelson is ready to start his career.
reservations about her decision. " I don't
think I could have gotten any better edu-
cation from anywhere else."
Technical College
Robert Mickelson, 19, of Rio, Wiscon-
sin, has chosen the express lane to his
career as a biotechnology technician by
enrolling in the Madison Area Technical
College (MATC). That college's new
"Biotechnology Laboratory Technician
Program" is the most advanced in the
country for a two-year school.
It is Mickelson's second year in the
program, which only began in 1987.
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to a
four-year university but I thought I should
have more education than just to start
working in the workplace," he recalls.
Mickelson could have had his pick of
colleges since he earned "mostly "A 's and
B's, but he insists "I was interested in this
new program. I'm interested in science
and agriculture and this was a good mix of
the two."
"In Wisconsin, I see a push toward
biotechnology. It ' s an up-and-coming field
and I thought it would be a good opportu-
nity to get into it. I would rather get a 2-
year degree and start work after only two
years."
Mickelson worked this last summer at
Agrigenetics, an agricultural biotechnology
firm in Madison. His supervisor, Scott
Alt, who is manager of greenhouses and
fields at the firm, said that Robert "was the
best worker we ever had in this area.
When you asked Robert to do something,
you knew it was going to get done right
12 FFA New Horizons