Today was the first day of our tour, and we started it off with a trip to the University of Wisconsin at Madison. First, we met with Dr. Shawn Conley who discussed the US Farm Bill and other aspects of farming in Wisconsin. Then we met up with our Campus tour guide, Cara. Cara is a Spanish and Environmental Sciences major and is a junior at U of Wisconsin. She took a one week course on how to give tours of the campus, so we knew she was well prepared to show us around the massive 933-acre campus. The campus is filled with large and small buildings that are both old and new, including 42 libraries. She showed us both styles of residence living: on the lake shore in the large old stone buildings versus the newer more apartment-style urban buildings. Because they are situated between two lakes, they are able to have their own fleet of sailboats for students to use. Abraham Lincoln signed the bill in 1848 which made the University of Wisconsin a land-grant university, allowing them to develop and expand because of the cheap land. Because of this, he has a statue on campus which people will rub for good luck. It is also tradition to sit on his lap once you have graduated. The most interesting part about the campus was the fact that they produce their own dairy products from their own dairy herd! How cool is that! All in all, it was a beautiful campus and I would love to have the opportunity to visit again.
From the dairy state,
Sarah Jackson
