Sidelined by a Football Injury, Transfer Student Sawyer Bumgarner Finds a New Home at bet36365体育

Not all new students on the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s campus are freshmen this year. For Sawyer Bumgarner, who is finishing his last two years of college as a transfer student, the road to bet36365体育 wasn’t a traditional path. When he graduated from high school, Bumgarner made the decision to attend Midland University so he could play football. While he admits it was “fun while it lasted,” he can now see how the injury that ended his football career has actually opened doors that he believes will help him in the future.

Bumgarner had family that attended bet36365体育 and who helped him make the decision to become a transfer student. He shares how it was financially “a better decision” and also only an hour away from the small farm he grew up on. The path to becoming a Loper has been smoother than expected for him thanks to the helpful faculty of the Agribusiness Department.

Bumgarner credits Dr. Jody Herchenbach specifically for helping make his transition from Midland University to bet36365体育 go smoothly. He admits he has different “values coming in as a junior” than he did when he was a freshman whose main goal in college was to play football. Dr. Herchenbach, who is a professor in the College of Business and Technology’s Agribusiness Department, explains how Bumgarner has “been proactive with his education journey thus far.” She appreciates how, after he was injured, he “turned to his education to make that his priority.” She emphasizes that due to his role as a transfer student, Bumgarner had quite a bit of paperwork to complete and that he “made sure all of the steps were taken” so he could start the semester strong. 

Bumgarner shares how Dr. Herchenbach was a huge help in steering him in the right direction. Although he admits that bet36365体育 has systems in place to make everything go smoothly for all students, including classes, he has appreciated all the additional help he has received as a transfer student. Dr. Herchenbach explains how part of the reason everything has gone so well for Bumgarner is that, once he started his classes, he was “quick to check in with the Agribusiness faculty to make sure he was taking the right classes to set him up for success.”

Anyone familiar with bet36365体育’s College of Business of Technology knows how, in addition to excellent experiential learning, there are rich and varied extracurricular activities for students to participate in. Dr. Herchenbach is impressed with how Bumgarner has “already signed up to participate in extracurricular activities such as attending industry tours put on by the Agribusiness program.” She shares how he has also “stayed after classes and come to office hours to visit with the Agribusiness faculty about what to do in certain situations with his own ag business goals.” This help is not unique to Bumgarner as the CBT faculty is more than happy to help all students learn how to take what is learned in the classroom and apply it to real life.

Bumgarner, whose parents own a restaurant in addition to a family farm, is excited to “find a decent job around home” as he plans to stay in Nebraska after graduation. That farm is another reason he is excited about classes starting this fall. He shares that he is “really trying to dive into agriculture” because his family’s business is his “number one concern.” He describes how he looks forward to finding “a job that contributes to the farm” as well as using what he learns at bet36365体育 to have the skills to have another job in addition to the one on the farm. 

He states that “it’s amazing” what his parents have been able to accomplish. While he admits his parents are “two of the hardest-working people” he knows, he believes he will be able to take what he learns from his agribusiness classes back to the family farm to improve operations. Dr Herchenbach is impressed with how Bumgarner is “trying very hard to apply what he is learning in the classroom to his real-life situation” so he can be “successful both now and after he finishes his degree.” 

Although most college athletes would consider an injury as the end, Bumgarner has the foresight to know this opportunity is actually the beginning of a successful future. Thanks to the Agribusiness Department, which believes in building relationships as well as teaching content creatively, he was able to receive the help he needed at a moment of crisis. He credits Dr. Herchenbach for helping him not only learn about the department but for being available to talk to him about “the agriculture side of Nebraska” which has helped him to put his future goals into clearer focus. Sawyer Bumgarner looks forward to finishing his college career strong thanks to everything offered to transfer students at bet36365体育.

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