“When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen.”― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

Activities

If a college acceptance letter and graduation diploma are the cover and back of a book, then classes and work are its pages. And if classes and work are the pages of a book, then surely activities are the pictures at the start of a chapter. Activities are the small adventures outside a classroom that add just a bit more life to a college journey. Sure they aren't needed, but who doesn't like a book with pictures?

Southern Weed Science Contest

This club...I joined on accident, through another mishap of its own(more on that here). But that mistake lead me to arguably, one of the best clubs on campus. A true underdog of the soil science department, the weed judging team studies weed morphology and structure, herbicide symptomology, calibration math, and farmer field problems to participate in the southern weed science contest.

Occurring once a year in the summer, the southern weed science contest

is a great exposure to weed scientists from other universities and industry, and an opportunity for students to apply what they learned in class, and test their capabilities in the field. This club exposed me to an aspect of my major I didn't know existed, and through it, I've walked away with a wealth of knowledge.

Cultivate

The very last expo of my undergraduate career, Cultivate is a must-attend expo to learn best practices, take classes, network, discover new innovations, and order services, resources, and inventory. Together with nine other student ambassadors, I spent three days walking the expo floor, taking classes, exploring trial gardens and forming meaningful connections with vendors in my ideal area of work.

Horticultural Science Student Ambassador

Horticulture is a small major on campus, but our department is working hard to change that. One way that change is taking place, is with student ambassadors. Who better to promote a horticulture degree than the students themselves? Whether it be anxious parents, school events, volunteering, mentoring, or general campus awareness, we do our best to answer the questions "what does a horticulturist do" and the parent favorite "can you make money with that degree?"

Greenhouse Chair

A promotion of sorts from my position as a regular member of the horticulture club, being a greenhouse chair provided me invaluable experience that assisted in landing me two of my three internships. Before I took ento 401(Principles of IPM) I was helping control spider mites and mealybugs. Two years before plant ID, I was memorizing the names of plants in our inventory. Watering, fertilizing, deadheading, splitting - routine maintenance that make plants look good. And people like to buy good looking plants.

Big Event

Big Event is the largest one-day, student-run service project in the nation. Each spring, tens of thousands of Texas A&M students come together to say “Thank You” to the residents of Bryan and College Station. In the case of horticulture club group two, that "Thank you" was in the form of planting trees and clearing debris from the house of a sweet lady who offered us lemonade and snacks many times. It was a hot day and I sweat more than I'd care to mention, but the experience of improving a community that hosts thousands of us students every year was priceless.

TNLA

The Texas Nursery & Landscape Association(TNLA) expo was my first introduction to the many facets of horticultural landscaping. In exchange for volunteering to set up the front and side displays of the expo, horticulture club was given permission to keep the display plants, which we sold at our semi-annual plant sale. I was also able to attend the "Women in Horticulture" panel for free, which was a great discussion on the gender imbalance in the agriculture industry. More about that here.

Muslim Student Association

This was one of the first clubs I joined. When I arrived on campus freshman year, I felt disconnected from the overall campus culture. Thankfully, Texas A&M has a very active Muslim Student Association. With at least two events a week, there was always something I could participate in after class. This later led to my participation in showdown, a three-day weekend-long tournament that brings together collegiate MSAs across Texas and beyond. During Showdown MSAs compete in events from sports and art, to social and religious activities. Overall, this was a comforting club where I could hang out with people who already understood an intrinsic part of myself. And because of that, I was able to build up the confidence needed to explore other campus clubs.