When I started out in the golf course industry it was just a
summer job for me as I was enrolled in the Bachelor of Education majoring in
Biology. As I came around to my second summer, I realized that Education was
not the field for me. I visited my sister
here at the college and she gave me a tour around for open house. The
atmosphere here was amazing. Everyone was so friendly. I enrolled in Turfgrass
Management and was very nervous as I did not know what to expect coming to
Olds. Coming here I was another bewildered
face completely lost.
The guys, not only in my class, but in all the years here
have been supportive. This was my first time living away from my family and my
first time living on my own making first week was difficult. Walking around not
knowing anyone and feeling more alone without your family was hard. My classmates
are great people and we all bonded quite quickly, which is good because these
are the people I see for 8 hours a day for the next two years. My classmates
make it easy being here and make Olds feel like a home.
Going to school here is completely different than any other
post-secondary institution I have visited or gone to. You are no longer just a
face in the crowd. It was nice to be
recognized and to have the teachers help you one on one. All of the teachers that I have encountered
here have been beyond helpful. They are personable, engaging and are truly
interested in your success. My favorite courses in my first year were Ian
Morrows Introduction to Turfgrass Management, Gord Gilchrist CAD, and Ian
Morrows Introduction to Irrigation. Ian Morrow is a fantastic teacher. Probably
one of the best I have ever had. His
class is the one class that no one wants to miss. Whether we were identifying
grasses, or learning how to fix irrigation heads, we always had fun. CAD was a
different class. For someone with zero computer skills it was difficult. Gord
was very good with making sure everyone was feeling confident with the material
we were learning and you could always contact him for further help. He made it
fun.
The great thing
about, not only these classes, but this school, is that they take the material
you learn in class and turn it practical. Whether in Gord’s class when we
learned laser levels and had to take it to the College wetlands to see if we
could find the volume in each pond or in Irrigation gluing PVC pipe and
designing our own irrigation loops, it practical training. Olds went beyond the
expectations that I had.
Morgan Creighton
1st year Turfgrass Student
1st year Turfgrass Student
