“I think it’s a great place for students to start!”

Lindsey Butner
Four-Year College Path

Lindsey Butner didn’t grow up on farm, but that’s where she found her passion. Five years ago she began working part-time at Clodbuster Farms in Kernersville. “That sparked my interest in horticulture and agriculture,” she says. “At that point I was still trying to decide what exactly I wanted to do college and career wise. I researched online to see what programs Forsyth Tech had to offer. I came across the Horticulture Technology program and I thought it sounded like something that I would really have an interest in, and I was definitely right!”

Lindsey graduated from Forsyth Tech in May, 2008 with an Associate in Applied Science degree in Horticulture Technology and is now at North Carolina A&T pursuing her Bachelor’s degree. “A&T offers a program for Horticulture/Agriculture students called ‘2+2,’” she explains. “My A.A.S. in Horticulture Technology transferred to A&T so that when I graduate, I’ll have a minor in Horticulture as well as a B.S. in Agricultural Education.” And then what? “Once I graduate from A & T, I’d like to work for the Cooperative Extension service. I’d love to become an Agricultural Agent for one of the local counties,” Lindsey says.

With her career goals now firmly established, it’s hard to believe that a few years ago Lindsey was, as she says, “just lost.” She had gone to three different colleges trying to find the right path, at first planning to major in business and then studying to become a paramedic, but decided neither career suited her. She became discouraged. “I thought I wasn’t ever going to finish college or find a program that fit me,” she says. Luckily, her parents and family supported her in her quest to find her passion. “They just continued encouraging me to stay in college and find something that I would enjoy and have an interest in,” she says. “I wanted my degree to be in something that I was passionate about. I finally achieved that with my degree in Horticulture Technology.”

She’s now an enthusiastic supporter of Forsyth Tech and the Horticulture Technology program. “The instructors are great. They all go out of their way to help the students and provide them with the information that they’ll need to have a successful career in the Horticulture field,” she says. “They make every student feel important and show the students that they want them to do well and be successful.”

One way they do that is by getting out of the classroom as much as possible. “We were constantly going on field trips to greenhouses and nurseries in order to give us a hands-on approach to the horticulture field,” she says. “Every year the Horticulture program has a plant sale. The students are responsible for the production of the plants that are to be sold as well as the marketing strategies.”

By combining this type of real world experience with rigorous academic studies, her Forsyth Tech instructors prepared her to take the next step in her education. “They provided me with a strong basis of knowledge to be able to continue my education at the university level,” she declares. “I think it’s a great place for students to start!”

And it seems the instructors thought just as highly of Lindsey, awarding her the Mary Kate Dixson Garden Study Club Scholarship, which is given to a student who is “a positive representative of the Horticulture program and displays the potential for a successful career in one of the horticultural professions.” As her path takes her from Forsyth Tech on to a four-year university to complete her education, Lindsey Butner is indeed a positive representative of the Horticulture Technology program, and of all Forsyth Tech students with the desire and commitment to achieve their goals.