Poly Royal

Well as many of you know, last weekend was Cal Poly’s Open House, better known as Poly Royal.  It was my third time attending Open House, and what I’m hoping wasn’t my last.  The first time I attended Open House was as a potential incoming student, back in 2010.  I came down with two of my friends from Modesto Junior College who were also considering transferring to Cal Poly the following fall.  Attending Open House was a great opportunity to see what all Cal Poly and CAFES had to offer, and it got me excited about my upcoming transfer to Cal Poly.  Last year’s Open House was my first as a Cal Poly student.  Being on CAFES Open House Committee, I was involved in the activities for incoming students on Friday, along with helping at club and department booths during Saturday’s events.  And that leads me to this year’s Open House, my second and last as a student. 

This year’s Open House certainly lived up to its expectations, even with the poor weather we experienced here in San Luis Obispo.  With rain on Friday, I had the opportunity to meet with incoming transfer students, talking to them about the things unique to them as a transfer.  We met them outside the Rec Center, and of course as soon as they were released from the university welcome, the clouds opened up and the rain began to pour.  But as true Cal Poly aggies, all of the current CAFES students were ready and excited to greet them and lead them to the Farm Shop, rain, mud, and all.  I had a great time talking to the transfer students, and helping to make their transition to Cal Poly a little easier.  I concluded Friday by helping out one of the clubs I’m involved in, Collegiate FFA (CFFA).  To prepare for our booth the next day, we had to cut 15 flats of strawberries to be served with ice cream.  Sitting around five gallon buckets with our flats of strawberries and knives in hand, we went to work cutting strawberries and with about 15 people helping, we were done within an hour and a half.  We then got the room set up for the next day and it was home to rest up for the big day.

Saturday is probably the busiest of the Open House days, for me at least.  This year I had to split my time between the Ag Communicators of Tomorrow (ACT) booth, CFFA’s ice cream and strawberries booth, and the Ag Education and Communications department booth.  Getting to campus early in the morning, I helped get the ACT booth set up before running over to see my friend, David Jones, in the parade as Cal Poly’s Homecoming King!  I then spent some time helping at CFFA’s booth, then back to ACT, then to the department booth, and then back to CFFA’s booth for the remainder of the day.  In between all of that I found a little time to walk around campus, finding a delicious tri-tip sandwich and strawberry milkshake.  Though I had planned to work all my shifts in the morning hours so I could attend the tractor pulls, because of the weather it was canceled and I got to spend the entirety of my last Open House helping at club and department booths.  Even so, I enjoyed every minute of it and look forward to coming back to Open House, next time as a Cal Poly alumni!