A Recipe for Student Success

Students trickle into the kitchen at Texas Tech University’s Department of Animal and Food Science. Excited to apply their knowledge from their classes into a real-life environment, the Texas Tech Food Science Club gathers around their basket of mystery ingredients, just like in the television show Chopped.

The club divides into two teams, and each team develops its secret plan before racing around the kitchen. Their tasks for the evening are to develop a meal containing oranges, dill pickled carrots, and chicken, as well as win over the judge’s taste buds.

Events like these not only strengthen what the students learn in the lecture halls, but build critical thinking skills, teamwork and camaraderie.

The Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources offers student-led clubs and organizations for the wide variety of majors. From agricultural law to preparing service dogs, students can get further involved in their interests and career aspirations.

Allison Faudoa, associate director at the University Career Center, said student organizations are one of the best ways to develop career skills and build connections.

“If you can be the content creator for your social club, that is something you can put on your resume,” Faudoa said. “The more leadership positions you can have, the closer it gets you to where you want to be.”

“I always encourage students, the minute they step foot on campus, to get involved in a student organization, student club, or competitive team,” said Maeley Stroupe, associate director for student success at the Dr. Bill Bennett Student Success Center. “That experience of being surrounded by like-minded individuals who are driven, not only does that help them stay driven and stay connected, but it also makes them feel welcome in Davis College.”

Involvement and leadership opportunities often begin before they arrive at Texas Tech for many students.

Roots in FFA

For many Davis College students, prior participation in FFA sparked their interest in remaining engaged in student organizations while at Texas Tech.

“A lot of our students that are getting plugged in right away are those that were involved in FFA,” Stroupe said.

Stroupe said students who join organizations within the Davis College are often those who were involved in high school and understand the benefits of involvement.

"I think those are students that come right out of the box and want to get plugged in and involved, because it's ingrained in them,” Stroupe said.

Lilly Prescott, a senior natural resource management major from Arlington, Texas, participated in radio broadcasting and entomology competitions in high school. Now, as president of the Tech Entomology Club, she helps the organization host FFA competitions on campus.

“Once Career Development Event season rolls around, we do the FFA entomology events,” Prescott said. “We pull all the specimens for that. We run the contest and answer questions that people might have afterwards.”

The Agricultural Educators of Tomorrow also assists with Career Development Events. Kaylee Hopkins, a junior agricultural education major from Weatherford, Texas, and AET president said many of their club members were involved in FFA in middle and high school.

“It's kind of cool to be able to see the full circle moment within those contest,” Hopkins said about going from being a FFA member to assisting with coaching as part of AET.

Leveraging past FFA involvement, organizations like Block and Bridle are marketed toward students who grew up showing livestock, according to Ag Council representative Brindle Harper, a junior animal science major from Littlefield, Texas.

“Our goal is to create meaningful activities and meetings for people to show up for,” Harper said.

One of those activities is the club’s annual Little International Livestock Show. Students who miss the livestock showing aspect of FFA can compete with their peers in goat, lamb, steer, and swine showing.

Cooper Mau, a sophomore agricultural and applied economics major from Fayettevile, Texas, and Block and Bridle vice president, said members develop a variety of skills and gain exposure to career opportunities through the organization.

Meetings can range from how to cook the perfect pork chop to learning about the ins and outs of the wool industry.

“[Wool] is just a skill that you would never think about,” Mau said. “Regardless of where you're going, it's super interesting. It's something you don't see very often.”

These experiences often spark students’ interest in becoming more involved in specialized organizations within the Davis College, including judging teams and the Meat Science Association.

Farm to Table

Members of Block and Bridle and the Meat Science Association are often intertwined. Both organizations share members due to their support and involvement with the university’s judging teams, said Anna Levien, a graduate meat science major from Boerne, Texas, and a graduate student representative of MSA.

"We interact really closely with the judging team[s], so the meat judging team, the Meat Science Quiz Bowl team [and] the animal evaluation team," Levien said.

Multiple faculty members, including Dale Woerner, Ph.D., support the Meat Science Association because of their own experiences on Texas Tech judging teams, Levien said.

“[Dr. Woerner will] come and do demos,” she said. “He always recruits for it in his courses.”

Many student organizations at Texas Tech utilize alumni and industry professionals as guest speakers at club events. These guest speakers share their pathways from secondary education to their current careers, offer insight into their roles and company culture, and help students develop professional connections. Those experiences often translate directly into career opportunities for students.

Levien said through her connections through MSA, helped her obtain a research and development internship at Tyson Foods Corporate Headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas.

In the internship, Levien had the responsibility of contributing to a ready-to-eat marinated chicken breast product, optimizing sausage formulations, and developing six sauce flavors.

"Those were really cool—getting to come up with brand new ideas and products for Tyson,” Levien said. “It was a whole lot of cooking and eating.”

A Taste of the Industry

On another side of meat and food science careers, Texas Tech Food Science Club president Kaitlyn Hall, a senior food science major from Denton, Texas, obtained a food safety and quality analysis internship at Continental Dairy Facilities in Littlefield, Texas, through her connections.

“It was not a typical internship for FSQA,” Hall said. “We learned how to use all of their testing gadgets and went through the process of receiving milk and pasteurization. We created training videos for new hires, so we had to dive deep into each of the practices, the machines, and teach someone how to use that.”

Members of the FSC have heard from professionals at Continental Dairy Facilities, product developers, food scientists, microbiologists and sales professionals to discuss products ranging from meat to soy sauce.

Hall said her favorite speaker has been a product development manager at H-E-B who developed the brand’s Creamy Creations ice cream line.

“My dream job is H-E-B ice cream,” Hall said. “It gave me a look into what my day-to-day would look like and what I would be doing—eating a lot of ice cream.”

FSC vice president Keerthana Shanthakumar, a senior food science major from Coppell, Texas, said both she and Hall have made connections that they will interview with for post-graduation positions. An additional two FSC members have secured jobs at H-E-B by reaching out to guest speakers.

In addition to skills and knowledge directly developed through competitions, travel opportunities develop the students’ planning and logistics skills, as well as provide networking opportunities with peers and professionals.

FSC members have had the opportunity to attend the Institute of Food Technologists College Bowl in Dallas, as well as the IFT First Event in Chicago.

After the IFT First Event, Shanthakumar said the officers came back with approximately 500 LinkedIn connections.

Making the Connection

Beyond exposure to industry professionals as guest speakers, some organizations take a more hands-on approach to building connections.

The Tech Dairy Science Club president Iris Schilderink, a senior agribusiness major from Nazareth, Texas, prioritizes networking with industry professionals for the Dairy Challenge team by not allowing students to just email potential sponsors.

“We have to call every single one,” Schilderink said. “I would prefer either phone-to-phone contact or face-to-face contact. They get that handshake, or that face to face, ‘Hey, this is who I am. This is what I'm doing. I want this connection between us’.”

DSC officers attended the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in 2025. Members of the Dairy Challenge team will travel to California, Florida, Alberta, and South Dakota over the 2025-2026 competition season.

Schilderink said the Dairy Challenge team has networking and career fair events at each competition. Peer networking is also developed through teams of four students from different universities.

While many of these experiences are rooted in animal and food sciences, similar opportunities exist across the Davis College in a wide range of disciplines. Students in all majors can find organizations and events that support their field of study and professional ambitions. 

Designing a Career Path

That same emphasis on career development extends into fields like landscape architecture.

Student American Society of Landscape Architects faculty advisor Andrew Castilleja, MLA, said their club members have their own unique travel and networking opportunities.

SASLA members develop their networking skills at the Department of Landscape Architecture's annual WreckShop, where roughly 90% of landscape architecture students get their career opportunities, Castilleja said. The two-day event saw 30 firms represented by 65 professionals in 2025.

“WreckShop starts with a lecture series, but we have a bunch of professionals that come into town,” he said. “It's a time for professionals to recruit our students.”

Castilleja said student members learn how to interview in real time through the club’s workshops, as well as gain the ability to promote themselves.

About 50 SASLA members further develop their skills by attending the Texas American Society Landscape Architects annual conference. Castilleja said increasing the number of students going to the conference each year has increased competition entries.

“Last year, we won 11 out of the 22 awards that were handed out,” Castilleja said. “The rest of the schools kind of shared the scraps after that.”

The conference also offers professional headshot opportunities and portfolio review days to equip students to be prepared for landing jobs and internships, Castilleja said.

A Recipe for Success

Stroupe said organizations and competitive teams challenge students to grow their communication skills, whether through ranking carcasses on the meat judging team or sharing the importance of agriculture with school-age children through Ambassadors for Agriculture.

“When I talk to industry partners and people that are hiring our Davis College grads, the biggest thing they talk about in lacking skills is communication skills: looking someone in the eye, being able to hold a conversation, strong writing ability, and not having to lean into AI every time they write an email,” Stroupe said.

While technical skills may open the door to career success, communication and relationship-building developed through student organizations are essential for transforming a degree plan into a network of professional and personal connections.

As a representative of the University Career Center, Faudoa said organizations help strengthen students' ability to meet and communicate with new people, as well as quickly build rapport with peers.

“I loved being involved when I was a student, and so I always recommend it,” Faudoa said. “You're going to meet so many more people and make friends more quickly. It's the best thing to do when you're a student.”

For some students, the most meaningful takeaway isn’t just the skills gained, but the sense of purpose and community they find.

“Block and Bridle has a feeling of being a part of something bigger than yourself,” Harper said. “It doesn't matter how big or how small your group is, you are changing people.”