“Ever since learning about Tarleton, Harry knew it was the place for him. Attending orientation was such an emotional event for me because it was the realization that this was a great decision.”
– Tarleton State Parent, Felicia Fisher
Our son’s journey from a rural farming community in Pennsylvania to Tarleton State this Fall was influenced by his sister’s desire to escape our bleak winters and attend college in Texas.
As the youngest of our three, he spent years listening to his sisters’ college journeys so when it came time for him to research schools, he knew exactly what did and did not interest him.
As the 9th generation of the family to continually farm our property, he knew he wanted to pursue a career in agriculture. Tarleton initially came on his radar after talking to his sister’s friend about how he would love to go to college in Texas as well but thought A&M was too large for him.
The friend, a Texas native, suggested Tarleton State and, as they say, the rest is history.
While people from Pennsylvania think Penn State as the epicenter of the universe, some going as far as to chastise his decision to leave Pennsylvania, the national ranking of Tarleton’s agriculture program is significantly higher.
He liked the fact that there’s a hands-on opportunity of working on a dairy farm since the only thing we farm is “boring produce” and that the Agriculture Services and Development major afforded him a chance to take classes in different areas of agriculture whereas most other schools have a rigid, limited track.
The size of the campus and the student body was appealing as was the chance to attend rodeo events and possibly participate in an exchange program. While he decided not to play football after high school, he liked that the school is a D1 program with an enthusiastic student body cheering on their classmates.
As parents, we like the fact that the cost of Tarleton State (even taking into consideration the added cost of travel), is still significantly less expensive than what it would cost to send him to a school in our home state.
Having a child 1,500 miles away is admittedly not without challenges.
Besides becoming a part-time travel agent comparing school schedules with flight schedules, there’s the added logistics of renting storage units over the summer months and navigating vehicle shipping.
For our son, the trade-off for enjoying everything Tarleton has to offer is that, on the occasions when he’s feeling under the weather or a bit homesick, he can’t easily travel home. It was a trade-off which he was more than willing to make. Given the reports we’ve received thus far about his classes, classmates and the events he’s been attending, he’s certainly not homesick.
In the interim, we’ve become unofficial ambassadors of Tarleton State University with our giant purple flag flying from our porch, our lawn sign received from Dr. Hurley at move-in, our vehicle stickers and, most importantly, telling everyone and anyone with a child interested in pursuing an education in agriculture in particular that Stephenville, Texas is the place to be.
Ready to make Tarleton State your new home away from home? Visit https://www.tarleton.edu/becomeatexan/ for more information about how to become an official Tarleton State Texan. BLEED PURPLE.