Not many people can say that they’re kept fueled after helping others, but RA Cody Fields is an exception to the norm. This plant whisperer is known for his generous and caring nature, as well as his outstanding contribution outside of Residence Life and in the Berks community.
Cody, a Plant and molecular biology major is a sophomore who enjoys working with plants just as much as likes working with people. In response to his plants Cody playfully said, “I’m growing a lot of stuff in my room.” Cody’s affinity for plants is unlike any others, and he has many reasons for enjoying their presence. “I like plants for multiple reasons and on multiple levels: one they just look cool. I don’t really like flowers, as much as I like plants. I actually hate most flowers, but I love the plants because they add a lot.” Most of Cody’s friends know that if they’re buying Cody a plant, it shouldn’t contain a flower. However, there is an even deeper reason as to why Cody dislikes them.
“Out of the entire organism of a plant, all that someone will look at is the flower. And that’s dumb because all the flower is used for is sex. That is the entire purpose of the flower, to reproduce, and that’s not the part that interests me,” He answered. “I also don’t like how commercialized they’re because they’re symbols of love and affection. When really they’re symbols of sex.”
In addition to Cody’s dislike of flowers, he also dislikes cities. Being born in Pennsylvania and moving around frequently as a child, Cody never grew to appreciate the city life. However, it wasn’t the hustle and bustle of the streets, or bright lights of the city that Cody disliked. “One reason why I don’t like cities is because you look out the window and you see a sea of concrete and just industry. You see no life — and I think that’s almost disturbing.”
However, Cody’s favorite plants are far from boring. His favorite plant is the olive tree. “The olive tree by itself is very symbolic because it takes the tree over a 100 years to fully mature. It doesn’t take that long to produce olives, but it isn’t mature yet,” he said. This isn’t the only reason why Cody adores the olive tree, though. He further explains the history behind these plants, “If you know your Greek and Roman history, they practically grew their empire on olive trees because of the money that was produced through olive oil and the trade. So that means in order to create that empire, they had to plan that far ahead for their money. And they had to take such good care of these trees or else their entire empire and economic society would crash.”
Aside from Cody’s fascination with plants, he also has many other interests that he practices outside of the RA position. A few Cody’s favorite hobbies are playing videos with a good story line such as, Fabel, BioShock, Assassin’s Creed. and reading a variety of science books involving sci-fi or nature. “Or spending time with friends and doing nothing — that’s always a good past time. Just sitting in each other’s company is good enough for me.” But most friends would agree that another passion Cody has lies behind Disney movies.
“Oh shit! Do I have to pick just one?” was Cody’s immediate reaction. “It has to be noted, I like more than just 3 but it would be Frozen, Lilo & Stitch and Sleeping Beauty.” It is not uncommon to see Cody on rounds playing Disney radio on Pandora from his phone.
However, Cody’s involvement around campus is also substantial. Last year, Cody received the Rising Star award, an award that is given to a freshmen who shows amazing initiative and leadership in their involvement with clubs and campus activities. Although he has scaled down his involvement this semester upon being hired at Residence Life, Cody is still involved in many campus clubs. He was involved in Zumba Lions, Rainbow Alliance, Honors, SGA and Berks Chemical Society.
“Not even half way through the first semester, most people thought I was an upperclassman because of how much I was involved in. I quickly took executive roles in a number of clubs and I was quickly known by the staff members and pro-staff. I rised to leadership levels very quickly, which is not common for first-years,” Cody said.
Although Cody currently isn’t as involved on campus as he was now, he has no regrets in joining the RA team. The RA position offered many opportunities that Cody felt he could shine in. “The reason why I was first interested in it was because I’m the kind of person that likes to help others. I like knowing that I am someone that others can turn to when they need something.”
One of Cody’s proudest moments in being an RA is seeing the transition of his residents. His favorite part of the positions is “having the ability to see a student grow from the beginning of the year to the end.” He also states that he appreciates the confidentiality aspect of the RA job as well. “Knowing that residents can come to you with really anything in the world, and they have complete trust in you knowing that you’ll act the exact same way no matter what they tell you,” he added.
However, the trend for bulletin boards in RA Rounds continues to fluctuate — Cody Fields also doesn’t enjoy doing bulletin boards, similar to Taimul. “I am not creative when it comes to arts and crafts, not once in a single day of my existence on this planet have I been like, ‘ya’know what? I’m a good artist.’ And that makes me feel really inept.” This seems to be a hot topic for RA Rounds — a standard question will now become: do you like or dislike doing bulletin boards and why?
Sadly, since Cody’s major isn’t offered at Berks, next semester he will be transferring to University Park to continue his studies and enter his major. But his education won’t end there. Cody hopes to receive his PH.D in Plant Pathology. His hopes to later work for Mon Santo as a genetic engineer and then to later work for the DC in field world. Another career he hopes to pursue is working as a professor and sharing his knowledge and experiences with his students. However, Cody has also been rethinking his career and life goals as well.
All photography used in RA Rounds is supported by Emilio Figueroa, CEO of E.F Photography.