Student Story: Former 4-H State Council president begins college career at Berks

Karoline Kent, last year's president of Pennsylvania’s 4-H State Council, is on the ag career track. She had a seamless transition from high school into college at Penn State Berks and saved money at the same time.

Now, the Lititz, Pa., native is a sophomore majoring in animal science with minors in agribusiness management and equine science. "Starting my college education at the Berks campus allowed me to take my required general education classes while remaining at home and saving money," she says.

ROUNDING THE NEXT BARREL: Karoline Kent knows a few things about barrel racing and is learning a lot more about agriculture as she sets sights on the next barrel – the University Park campus.

On the weekends, Kent drives to her grandparents' horse farm in Delaware, where she cares for her horse. She also helps at a crop farm near Harrisburg. Those are commitments she wouldn’t have been able to uphold if she had started her studies immediately at University Park.

Kent will transition to University Park in the spring of 2017, after she completes her remaining general education credits at Berks this fall.

She’s no stranger to University Park. As last year’s president of the 4-H State Council, she led meeting on the main campus. During that time, Kent also designed the "Pennsylvania 4-H" page, which is printed monthly in a farm newspaper. The page educates readers about 4-H and features stories of youth participants and their achievements.

Though her term as president ended, Kent still writes for the 4-H page. "Through my involvement with the 4-H page, I've gained an interest in communications and marketing, which has led me to pursue the agribusiness concentration in my major," she adds.

This summer, she has an internship with Advanced AgriSolutions, a dairy supplement company. There, she’s honing her experience in the sales and consultation fields of agriculture.

"Someday, I’d love to own my own business," she hopes. She already has the determination to do it, and she’s building the know-how and skills for the next step.

Penn State University feature