Agricultural Communications and Leadership

Educational Goals

            Two years ago, while still studying and working in agriculture, I decided to take an Intro to Communications class as an elective and found out very quickly that I also have a love for working with people and for leading others. After changing my major to communications and graduating with an associate’s degree, I realized that while I loved both agriculture and communications equally, neither by itself would satisfy my intellectual goals. Upon finding the BDIC program here at UMass Amherst, I am hoping that I’ve found the solution to my problem.  Through BDIC, I want to explore agriculture more, while taking core classes in communications and also strengthen my professional skills by taking classes in leadership, entrepreneurship and education. I plan to call the degree “Agricultural Communications and Leadership”.

            Also, while taking classes in agriculture, communications and leadership, I am hoping to get myself out in the work force and get real life experiences in this field. I think that for both the agriculture and communications fields alike, it is very important to have real world experiences. In communications, It is important to have strong public speaking skills and be able to maintain control of different people and situations. No matter what you learn in a classroom, you can only gain these skills through actually doing it. For these reasons, I am hoping to either find an internship for a semester, or to go on a domestic exchange study. There are agricultural communications majors already set-up at other institutions across the country. I would love to travel to one of these schools and be able to work with students and professors who are already doing what I am hoping to accomplish. In conclusion, by taking classes in these three main departments (agriculture, communications and education[leadership]) and devoting myself to an internship or exchange program, I know that BDIC will help me to discover the agricultural leader and advocate that I want to become.

Experiential Background

            Over the past 6 years, I have been working very closely with the agriculture industry. I have a strong passion for plants and animals and it is truly the trade I want to be involved in. The first experience I had that lead me to explore agricultural communications would be my work with the FFA, or The Future Farmers of America. The FFA is a national youth organization whose purpose is to develop students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education. I am currently a state officer with the organization and have been for the last three years. My job is to be an advocate for agricultural education and be a leader, role model and representative of agriculture and the organizations over 500,000 members across the country. My experiences with the group have taught me to love public relations and working with people. I think that I would be great in a position that requires me to advocate on behalf of the organization or business, even better if it is an agricultural business or institution. Also, this position has given me so many leadership opportunities, like speaking in front of large groups of people and influencing members and business owners across the state and country. I think I have very strong leadership and entrepreneurial skills, again, because of my work with the FFA and being able to be the leader of an organization and of a team of leaders, so I would like to keep strengthening them and add this concentration to my proposal.

            Other experiences that I have had that have lead me to where I  am would be my other college experiences and things I am interested in. First off, I already have my associates degree in communications so I know what kind of courses I need to take and I already know that I enjoy them. I learned what kind of classes I liked and which ones I didn’t like and I’ve figured out that there are many classes in the communications field that I would like to try. There is just something so rewarding to me about working in an industry that directly supplies people with food and clothing. By combining this love with my natural abilities in the communications field, I would have the perfect major to prepare me for life beyond college.

Continuing Aims     

            I think the world today needs more people who are proficient in communications studies. Media is exponentially growing and becoming more complex. This means that people are going to be getting information in more ways than we already are. By having a strong background in communications, I’ll be better suited to find new ways to get people the information they need through whatever channel they want it through. By adding my agriculture knowledge into the mix I would be able to organize information about agricultural events and news and send it out to people so that they can be more informed about an industry that is so important to our world.

            After I receive my degree in Agricultural Communications, I would love to find a job directly related to what I am doing. I haven’t decided if I would continue with my education and go on to graduate school yet, but it is definitely an option. I think if I did continue on with graduate school, I would really like to get my masters in the arts and continue with something in communications. I would also really like to go to a graduate school far away from here so that I could experience other cultures of people and see how they do things across the country, such as in a big city or in a small rural town. Every county in ever state has different policies and different goals for agricultural practices, so I would love to experience one of them Regardless of grad school, I think the type of job that BDIC will prepare me for is one in a position of leadership. I would love to work with a Public Relations firm or do something where I would get to dictate my own work and create my own schedule. I work best in jobs where I have a goal or a deadline, but the path I take to reaching that goal is decided by me. Also, for me to be happy in a job, I would have to be working with agriculture. Just doing PR work wouldn’t be enough. In addition to this degree helping me with my future career, it would also be helping me with my hobbies. I love working with animals and I am also interested in getting into some plant hobbies, such as gardening. Currently, I love training dogs and doing agility and obedience work, as well as breeding rabbits. I am hoping that this degree will help me understand more about the business side of what I am already doing, as well as teach me more about things I would like to do.

            With this degree, I would be qualified for jobs, such as working with the United States Department of Agriculture or other government funded agriculture organizations, educating others about the agriculture field or with a company or organization that needs a public relations specialist. There is a huge calling for people in this field because with the surge in technologies in this century, agriculture has become over shadowed. People have started to not care about where their food or clothing comes from. It is all about money and getting things fast. Seeing this, many agricultural businesses are looking for people to help them keep up with the trends and keep the public educated about what they are buying or consuming. 

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