Congratulations to the following Alpha Zeta seniors for graduating in December 2012: Daniel Cardenas of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Thomas Edwards of New Holland, Pennsylvania; James Howe of Oley, Pennsylvania; Derek Nissley of Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Nate Oleniacz of Montrose, Pennsylvania.
Three of those seniors provided information about their best memories of AZ and their career plans.
Florida native Dan Cardenas (pictured left) said his proudest achievement was graduating. He earned a degree in Forest Land Management and will be putting that degree to work in the field of arboriculture with Bartlett Tree Experts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Cardenas has served as the Athletic Chair, the New Member Educator for the Spring 2012 class and the Social Chair. He said some of his fondest memories are “all of the great AZ parties and road trips to the Cornell AZ chapter.”
When asked how had his experience as an Alpha Zeta benefitted him, Cardenas answered, “It has helped me make friends for life and have a home that I can always come back to in Happy Valley.”
Thomas Edwards (pictured right) graduated with a degree in Animal Science with a minor in Poultry and Avian Sciences. His proudest achievement in college was placing second-highest individual in the National Collegiate Poultry Judging Contest. His team also took second place.
Edwards served as house manager and said his favorite AZ memory is, “the countless mornings talking with my brothers at the dining room tables about the previous night’s shenanigans.”
He chose to join Alpha Zeta over other Greek chapters because he wanted to join an agricultural fraternity.
“AZ is leaps and bounds above the others in all aspects, including professionalism, networking and having fun,” he said. “I’ve grown up and matured a lot since I came in as a sophomore. I’ve accepted a lot of responsibilities in the house and definitely learned a lot about time management. And the huge family of brothers and sisters that are always there when I need them has been awesome.”
Another graduate, Nate Oleniacz (pictured below) agrees with Edwards about his fondest memory being conversations held at the dining room table.
“It was always a blast to sit there with everyone the morning after a party or social, talking about the all of the memories from the night before or events from the past,” he said.
During his time in AZ, Oleniacz served as the Ag Student Council representative and chair of the Professional Development Committee. He was also an active member of the Penn State Dairy Science Club.
Starting in January, Oleniacz began a full-time career with Arethusa Farm in Litchfield, Connecticut.
Best of luck to all of these recent graduates!