Staying local to study agriculture at AWC
In this week’s agriculture segment some of our very own “home grown” students share why they think Yuma is the best place to start your agriculture career.
Agriculture work is no typical nine-to-five job. It takes a special person to tend to the fields giving it around the clock care. But, that’s what several agriculture students at Arizona Western College love most. Even on their spring break, they are busy working in the fields.
Caleb Gillispie is continuing to grow his passion for agriculture at AWC. “For me, studying agriculture started as a young child. My dad was a high school Ag teacher so he taught at the high school level and then moved onto the community college level so growing up I had always been around agriculture,” he said. “I feel like there is always something you can learn and always changing,” the freshman added. “It’s an exciting topic to be a part of.”
Not all of AWC agriculture students grew up in agriculture. One student, Graham Ashby is hoping to be a first generation farmer. For him, he believes the best place to start is at AWC.
“It’s one of the places where you really get some hands on learning and use those skills in a practical application,” Gillispie said.
If you are considering a career in agriculture, Gillispie has a tip for you.
“The biggest tip I would give them, coming out of high school and going into college you have a lot of change going on. You’ll probably make up your mind and then change it, make up your mind and then change it again so one of the best things you can do is come to Arizona Western College and the reason I say that is because you’re going to be able to save a lot of money,” he said.
Not only will you save money, but AWC offers seminars from some local ag experts so it gives students the chance to learn from the pros themselves. The ag industry is ever-changing and Yuma County is in the thick of all the latest ag technology developments.
“The biggest thing for me with agriculture is in my early years in high school you start to learn things and two years down the road some of those things you learned in class are already updating and changing so I think the biggest thing for me is just seeing how much technology has evolved in agriculture and the innovations and things that they are doing,” Gillispie said.
For information on how to enroll in agriculture classes at AWC, click here.
