took the time to learn your name. I felt like a person instead of a number.” The college of agriculture has been home-away-from-home for many students, Nabors added. “Just like on a farm or in the agriculture community as a whole, everyone has a role to fill to accomplish what needs to get done,” Peters said. “With our rural and agricultural heritage, family is integral to success, to build relationships and to survival. “What the college of agriculture has done, perhaps more effectively than the other colleges, is make us look outside ourselves and focus on service to others,” Peters said. Legacy is having faculty members who are interested in the students and seeing them succeed in the skills they have and helping them build on that and be successful, Doye said. “The college of agriculture does that better than anyone else,” Peters said.
HALIE RUNNER McDONOUGH COUNTY ILLINOIS
orestry researchers, review pecan samples (1982). Photos
Siblings Cynda (left) and Erik Clary grew up in California. Photo by Isabelle Barrett.
A TALE OF TWO DOCTORS
Originally from California, Cynda Clary lived away from her four siblings for years. Now, orange power has drawn several Clarys to Stillwater. “My children had never been able to live by aunts and uncles or to know and see their cousins before we moved to Oklahoma,” said Clary, associate dean for the Oklahoma State University Ferguson College of Agriculture. “Every three years or so, they would get to see more of their family.” That situation changed when Erik Clary, her brother, interviewed with the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. “I didn’t even know he was applying for the position until he stayed with me to interview for it,” she said. The orange connection grew when Erik Clary’s daughter, Bri, enrolled as a freshman in the college, he said. “When the opportunity arose for me to practice veterinary medicine and teach here, while moving closer to my family, I couldn’t pass the opportunity up,” he said. “My siblings and I have always kind of followed the steps Cynda had taken from the time we were in high school. Being closer to her family was natural.” Cynda Clary said she loves having her biological family as a part of the Ferguson College of Agriculture family. “My nephew Josh came to OSU in the fall of 2016,” she said. “Now, my daughter Tess is here along with Bri as well. “To have the three cousins attending classes here all at the same time, while Erik and I are here also, is really special,” she added. Cynda Clary said she always knew her family would love OSU. “Having this experience with my family is something I never would have expected to have,” she said. Cynda Clary said she still works to recruit more of her family to OSU every day. She said even her mother, Edna, is now an avid supporter of the university and encourages students in California to visit here. “I always hoped part of my family would be reunited,” Cynda Clary said. “Ten years ago I never would have imagined we would come back together here, but I couldn’t ask for more.” — TF VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2 | 21
