CANR senior earns leadership honors

Learning to love plants was a fluke for Lauren Tuski. Actually, she might call it a flute.

Lauren Tuski receives the CANR Outstanding Leadership award from Jill Cords of CANR career services

Learning to love plants was a fluke for Lauren Tuski. Actually, she might call it a flute.

When Tuski’s flute teacher offered her the chance to take care of her gardens in exchange for lessons, Tuski agreed.

“As I worked through that summer, I found that it wasn’t just my flute teacher’s company and Popsicle breaks that I enjoyed, but the work itself,” Tuski said.

As she considered a major at Michigan State University (MSU), Tuski initially didn’t consider horticulture, but after a field trip to Kellogg Biological Station to investigate weed research plots, she was hooked.

“I was fascinated,” she said. “I remember the specific moment when I was cutting through the courtyard behind the Chemistry Building and decided I wanted to major in horticulture.”

For Tuski, being hired by her music teacher led to success at MSU. She was named the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Outstanding Leader. As recipient of the award, she will speak to her classmates during CANR commencement ceremonies May 4.

Tuski was recommended for the award by Brad Rowe, professor and chair of the undergraduate programs committee in the MSU Department of Horticulture.

Rowe described Tuski as a “true leader, excellent student.” She is a member of the Honors College, was named to the dean’s list every semester and received the American Society for Horticultural Science’s Outstanding Undergraduate Horticulture Student Award last year. Tuski is a double major in horticulture and professional writing.

Tuski has been a member of the MSU Horticulture Club and this year served as its president. She has competed at the PLANET Career Days, a competition for college and university horticulture clubs nationwide. Additionally, she tutored fellow students in English, served as an intern in the Michigan House of Representatives and has been a member of the MSU Concert Orchestra.

Tuski has a job waiting for her at a local garden center, where she will work in production management.

“I am proud of what I have been able to accomplish in these past four years as a Spartan, a horticulturist, and a member of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. I am proud to represent these organizations not as a reflection of who or how great I am but as how great and awesome Spartans, MSU Horticulture and the CANR are,” she said.

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