Life doesn’t always work out according to plan. Just ask Dave Cox and Karen (Divelbliss) Cox.

“I told my high school ag teacher the last thing in my life I would do was teach school,” Dave says. “Well, that’s what I do, and I really enjoy it. I also never ever thought about coaching. Those doors just opened and the Lord just pushed me through. I really believed I would be a dairy farmer all my life.”

Karen echoes that sentiment. “When I was in college, I intended to participate in running a farming operation or some other agricultural career,” she says.

“My father encouraged me to get my teaching license while I was at Purdue. I told him that was the last thing I would ever consider doing, and I ignored his advice.”

Karen found her life’s calling when she was asked to fill in for the ag teacher at nearby Rochester High School.

“During that semester, I fell in love with teaching and it became my passion and the only career I wanted,” Karen says.

As head coach and assistant coach of the Plymouth High School girls basketball team, Dave and Karen won the Indiana Class 3A state championship in 2008. This season, Plymouth posted a 20-5 record and won another sectional title before being knocked out of the tournament in the regional championship game.

Sometimes life works out better than you planned. Just ask Dave and Karen Cox.

The voice of experience: A Purdue Ag degree will open many doors because so many ag alums have been successful in all areas of agriculture and agribusiness. There is a high level of expectation that goes with the degree, so if you are not highly motivated and a pusher, you might be judged harshly. And from my own experience, a Purdue Agriculture degree will prepare you to go into numerous other careers that you never thought you would go into.  —  Dave Cox