Texas Agriculture Tour-Monday

Hey Ya’ll (I’m in Texas… I can get away with saying that :)
Monday, Day two, Lone Star State… Fabulous. Today we woke up in Red Raider land, which as you may know means we woke up in Lubbock Texas, home of Texas Tech University where Laila and Riley go to school. The sun was shining in Lubbock which literally brightened my day and fulfilled our vitamin D requirements for a while. We left La Quinta (after having woken up “On the Bright Side”) and headed to the animal science department at Texas Tech. Being an animal science major just like Regina I was pretty excited to see what Texas Tech had to offer. Well… they have a LOT to offer, what an incredible facility and staff. We saw impressive classrooms (student to professor ratio in the animal science department, the largest in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources is 15:1), we also saw Cowamungus-a student ran store that sells Texas Tech Agriculture products, food science and nutrition labs, an indoor riding arena and a from start to finish meat processing facility. We made stops for photos at the giant concrete Texas Tech seal and a famous statue of Will Rogers and his horse Soapsud. Will Rogers was once a famous newspaper columnist and friend to Texas Tech, the statue and its story is now a symbol of school pride and tradition.

After our tour of Texas Tech it was time to hit the road again. “Hit the road” is a funny saying; if you over think about it as I have done you picture a bunch of people walking to the street and literally smacking the road with their hands. Maybe not? Ok… so really we just got back in what Paul and Riley call the “Man Van” because until Laila’s day of birth on Feb 19th only Riley and Paul were old enough to drive the van. Thankfully the “Man Van” safely transported us to CEV Multimedia’s headquarters also in Lubbock. CEV Multimedia creates multimedia courses and supplemental educational materials in Agricultural Science & Technology, Family & Consumer Sciences, Trade & Industry, Business & Marketing, Career Orientation and Biology. Perhaps some of you have seen their videos or courses in your own classes? Some of the most commonly known pieces are their livestock judging and parliamentary procedure lessons. CEV Multimedia’s founder Dr. Gordon Davis and his staff are excited and dedicated to bringing quality and engaging educational materials to students across the nation. It was a sincere joy to learn from the staff at CEV Multimedia. Each day they bring to life the knowledge we as agriculturalists and FFA members seek to gain.

After our visit to CEV Multimedia it was time to leave Lubbock and drive to Abilene Texas! Abilene is home to Ben Richey’s Boys Ranch. While at Ben Richey’s Boys Ranch we joined house parents and students who are residents of the Boy’s Ranch and community for dinner and greetings. Numerous FFA chapters from the surrounding Area Two also joined for activities later in the night. It’s Texas, so of course we had a big time! Thank you to the Boy’s Ranch and Area Two members for sharing in a fun evening.
We can’t wait to see what else the land of Texas has to offer!

-Nessie