Hometown: Rootstown, Ohio
College/University attended: OSU Agricultural Technical Institute
Major: Beef production and management
Career: I am a parts assembly man at Miner’s Tractor Sales.
What can you tell us about your farming experience?
I have beef cows that we raise for market and for breeding stock, and we show them at the Portage County Randolph Fair. I started out with 4-H steers and then I showed beef cows at the fair. As I got older, Stegh Farms made me their herdsman.
Why did you choose the Agricultural Technical Institute?
I heard good things about it from friends who went there. It’s pretty much the only school around here that had beef production. I didn’t really want to go to Columbus.
Did you do an internship?
Yes, at Steve Miner’s farm and I also helped him at Miner’s Tractor Sales. After the internship, he called me back with a job.
How are you using what you learned in college today?
I use it to talk to the truck drivers and for putting stuff together as the assembly man. I put together things like wheel hay rakes, discbines, brush hogs, small tractors and lawn mowers.
Advice for students thinking about college:
Decide if it’s for you. Choose whatever you want to go into and if it doesn’t work out, try something else.
What I wish my 17-year-old self knew about picking a college?
I wish I knew what I wanted to go into and my career choice. I also wish I knew about the kinds of jobs that are available. I knew some, and then I learned as I went through school.
Read other graduate profiles:
- Stephanie Thompson, West Virginia University
- Lisa Kalas, Lake Erie College
- Sara Tallmadge, Stautzenberger College
