An agriculture student that has displayed true school pride and pride in his major will be graduating this weekend from Seward County Community College/Area Technical School. Ryan Nelson came to Seward from Laverne, Okla., a small town in the panhandle of Oklahoma. Nelson played high school athletics, but his real interest was in agriculture. He did not seek a future in sports and made a decision on which college he would attend. After being awarded the Presidential Scholarship for having the highest grade point average from the students in his graduating class that were attending SCCC/ ATS, Nelson made his way to Liberal. Not only was he a Presidential Scholar, but he was also recruited to be a member of the SCCC judging team. Nelson competed in judging his freshman year, but did not continue into his sophomore year because the coach that recruited him moved on to another job. Nelson did not let that phase him in working toward his major in agriculture as he became the president of the Block and Bridle Club and was also named as the president for the Collegiate Farm Bureau. His duties in those two clubs consisted of being in charge of Farm Education Day, the Block and Bridle Livestock Sale and the Aggie Open. Farm Education Day was a success as well as the livestock sale. “Farm Ed. Day went really well this year,” Nelson said. “It went better than last year, and our livestock sale was the best that it had been in a number of years.” The Aggie Open is the agriculture department’s annual golf day where the ag students and club members head to Willow Tree Golf Course and play a round of nine holes. Each Aggie Open is capped off by having a celebratory dinner where various awards are handed out for the golfing. Nelson has school pride, respects the athletes of the college for what they do and is friendly to the athletes. He took school pride to a new level his freshman year when he started the “rowdy crowd.” Nelson and five of his friends bought basketballs and turned them into hats that were painted green and white with shirts that were white and when they stood side by side in order, they spelled out Saints. Aside from his school work, Nelson is a role model for children in his home town. In the summers he coaches a seventh through ninth grade Mid-America Youth Basketball team. “Those kids are really special,” Nelson said. “I really enjoy being able to coach them and help develop them, not only into athletes, but also into human beings.” When he is finished with college, Nelson would like to be either a coach or an agriculture education teacher. Nelson will be graduating with an associate of applied science in agriculture and will continue working toward a bachelor’s degree at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva, Okla. Nelson has made many memories at Seward, but his favorites involve those with his friends. “I have a lot of memories of this place,” Nelson said. “My favorites are the ones from the Dormpalooza and intramurals because I was able to compete with my friends and have a good time.” “Seward has given me a lot of things that are going to help me in my future,” Nelson said. “They will definitely help me in getting through life.”