Thankful 30 - Day 7, leadership collaboration

Today was filled with deep thoughts. I am thankful for the chance to collaborate with recognized and developing leaders in agriculture. The best way to learn is from experience. There were many years of experience in the business sessions of the AFA Alliance Forum, as well as at the AFA Leader in Agriculture Award Dinner last night.

In reality, I'm still processing much of the insights shared today. One thing that comes to the front of my mind is this: live out your passions and values and never stop learning.

How do you continue collaborating with leaders to learn and develop your best self?

Thankful 30 - Day 6, technology

We live in a technology society. Advancements are happening quickly, especially for agricultural production. At the AFA Leaders Conference and a session for the AFA Alliance Forum, I had discussions with college students and agricultural professional peers about technology.

Everyone know it is expanding. New iPhones, iWatches, drones, data management software are just the beginning. What is next? Programs to coordinate health systems, soil metric measuring developments? Who knows. All I know is, there is a lot to learn in a short amount of time.

Lucky for us, we can be thankful for what we have now. Internet connections, email, cell phones, cable, cloud storage, GPS, field mapping, computers and countless other devices that I cannot remember. But there is more to come. How will we enhance it to make the most of agriculture, medicine and life? I guess we shall see. There is a lot of opportunity for my generation. :)

The culture of agriculture

Culture is a component increasingly important as I continue the career search. However, the past two days at the CropLife America annual meeting reminded me there is more than just culture of a company.

It was humbling to be surrounded by individuals involved with organizations devoted to improving modern agriculture practices. As the only student representative from AFA, I brought a unique perspective to the conversations with leading companies in crop protection services. Whether we discussed how agriculture is continuing to evolve, ways that AFA and their organizations could collaborate or college football (since we all know Ohio State has a great program), the environment was refreshing. People in agriculture have a distinct quality that makes the conversation natural and sincere. There is a deeper culture in agriculture.

Begin the last chapter with the end in mind

I have made it. It is crazy to think I have already begun the last chapter... my senior year. Unfortunately, I am experiencing extreme senioritis. With five classes and many extra curricular activities, I am getting overwhelmed in "restart mode".

As I look at this last chapter, I am realizing it is time to embrace it and take it all in. These past few months, I have been given a lot of advice. Whether I am talking to business leaders or academic professors, there is one thing they all suggestion: don't wish away time.

This summer went by quick with my internship and AFA meetings and visits.
This photo is from the Ohio visits a group of us AFA students conducted.

Word of the Day: Cluster

This past week was very exciting! Because it was so exciting, I will be splitting up my adventures into more than one post. I had the privilege to travel with the AFA Student Advisory Team to Fresno, Calif. for our June meeting and industry visits from June 8-11. Not only was this my first time in California, but it was our team's first traveling meeting to learn about different methods of agricultural production and to mingle with supporters of our organization.

Each of us enjoyed learning more about California's diverse agriculture practices, like pistachios!
I am pictured second in from the left.

Every evening after our meetings, we share our "word of the day" to compile our thoughts and share it with the group. Unfortunately, we were unable to express our last word of the day on Tuesday because some of the team had to catch early flights across the country. Therefore, this is the perfect opportunity to share my word of the day and introduce a string of different posts about my California experiences.

My word of the day is cluster.