By Jim Massey
Freelance writer
Kylie Konyn waited until virtually the last minute to decide whether to attend UW-Madison or California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Calif., but a semester into her college experience, she is happy she made the decision to come to Madison.
“The people have made my experience special here in Madison,” she said during a winter break interview. “By coming to Wisconsin I have been able to expand my network of connections and see a different part of the dairy industry. And I absolutely love Madison.”
Konyn is one of a half dozen West Coast students who were enrolled in Dairy Science 272 during the first semester. The freshman course in the Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences helps incoming students learn about internships and job opportunities, and discuss leadership-development opportunities when looking ahead to the rest of their college careers.
Kent Weigel, department chairman and a professor of breeding and genetics, co-teaches the class with Bernadette O’Rourke, a senior outreach specialist in animal sciences. The goal is to provide a broad scope of career opportunities available to animal and dairy scientists.
“We talk about everything from animal welfare to meat sciences to genetics to help them kind of zero in on their interests,” Weigel says. “We help them find something that’s of interest to them.”
Weigel says it’s somewhat unusual to have a half dozen West Coast students in the class but he has seen students from all over the country.
“The dairy science majors tend to be more from Wisconsin, while the animal sciences majors are from all over,” he says. Many of the animal sciences majors are working toward a goal of attending veterinary school after graduation.
Konyn’s family milks 800 cows on the family farm in Escondido, Calif., one of two remaining farms in San Diego County. She says she doesn’t know if she will eventually return to California to work on the farm or find a career in the dairy industry.
“If you would have asked me when I was 5 years old what I wanted to do when I grew up, it would have been to own and manage the family dairy business,” she says. “We milk 800 cows, which is larger than the average farm in Wisconsin but small for California. The industry is trending toward larger dairies. We are starting an (on-farm) creamery in 2022, so if I do go back there someday, it would be at a much smaller scale, maybe farm-to-table and local sales. I definitely want to get some industry experience before and if I go back.”
Konyn was accepted to both the UW and Cal Poly, but decided she would have more opportunities to get involved in research if she enrolled in the school that was 2,000 miles from home.
She made friends in a short amount of time by tagging along on dairy cattle judging trips with the UW dairy judging team and living in the Association of Women in Agriculture house on campus.
“I’m living with 24 other girls with ag backgrounds – we are all very like-minded people,” she says. “I am building one connection at a time.”
As for the weather? “Single digits aren’t as scary as I thought they would be,” she says. “I have yet to experience below zero temperatures. I’m going to be freezing this semester, let’s be honest.”
Karli Rask, a freshman from North Tuskin in Orange County, Calif., enrolled in UW-Madison with an eye toward eventually attending veterinary school.
“I have always been interested in a pre-vet path and I knew the UW had a good animal sciences program,” she says. “I wanted to challenge myself a bit. The independence of being away from home is nice.”
“I love Madison. Everyone here is so nice. The weather change was hard at first, but I really like it. It’s going to get worse and I am preparing for that. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s it’s going to be like going to class in the snow.”
Rask says she gets questions from her California friends and family about why she wanted to go to school so far from home, but yet they know of the UW’s reputation as a great school.
“Once you get here and experience it, it kind of speaks for itself,” she says.
Daniela Hernandez enrolled at the UW with a group of friends as part of the Posse Foundation’s scholars program. The Posse program pairs students from a region with a friend group that attends a university together. Hernandez’s tuition is paid as part of the program.
“The scholarship program is only associated with so many schools and UW-Madison was the only one on the list that had animal sciences as an option,” Hernandez says. “I’ve always wanted to be a veterinarian, so it made sense to go there.”
Hernandez is the only one of the eight students in her group who is enrolled in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. The others are majoring in various Letters and Science programs.
Her Animal Science 101 class opened her eyes to animals she never thought about working with while growing up in the city.
“I always wanted to work with companion animals, but in Madison you see the cows and sheep and experience how to handle them and other livestock that made me also want to work with them,” she says. “You don’t see a cow walking down the street back home.”
Hernandez’s new experiences have brought her to a crossroads, she said, as she will have to decide what type of animals to work with if she continues on the path to becoming a veterinarian.
“I’m only a freshman, so I still have a lot of time to decide,” she says.
She gets ribbed by friends back home about why she would want to go to college so far from home, but she says her experiences have convinced her she made the right choice.
“I thought I was going to hate Madison, but I ended up loving it,” she says. “There are so many things to explore with my friends. I’ve met an amazing friend group and the professors in CALS are very helpful in explaining career options.
As for the weather, she says she expects to experience much colder weather when she returns to classes for the second semester.
“It definitely hasn’t been as cold as everyone told me it would be,” she says. “There were moments when snow was falling for a few seconds, but I quickly went inside because it was so cold.”
Tula Cox grew up in Marin County, Calif., just over the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Like Hernandez and Rask, she enrolled with a goal of attending vet school after earning her undergraduate degree.
“Working with animals has always been my biggest passion in life so it only made sense for me to major in Animal Sciences,” she says.
She explored the campus online, learned about the prestige of the animal sciences program and reached out to a couple friends from her hometown who attend UW.
“They gave me the inside scoop – I applied and visited, and after my visit, I knew I wanted to be a Badger.”
Cox says it has been a “sensational feeling” to be studying in a field she has always wanted to pursue. She valued the experience of her first animal sciences course and being able to work hands-on with animals.
“It was an amazing opportunity to learn and also to confirm that this is the correct path for me,” she says.
Cox says the Wisconsin weather is “pretty much what I expected coming from California – cold!”
“I don’t really mind the cold, though, and have adjusted pretty well,” she says. “I’ve been warned about what to expect after winter break. I’m really looking forward to the snow.”