Greetings, McHenry County residents! As a visitor to McHenry County I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself as one of Illinois Farm Bureau’s newest county manager trainees, Kristine Book. As a brand new Farm Bureau employee, I now have the fantastic opportunity to shadow veteran manager Dan Volkers for the next month.
Currently I live in rural Dixon, located in nearby Lee County. Like many active in the agriculture movement, I grew up on my family’s grain farm. Though I lived agriculture as my family’s livelihood, I arrived at agriculture as a career through more unconventional avenues. Unlike other resident rural youth active in the agriculture community, I pursued other interests and graduated from North Central College in Naperville with a B.A. in organizational communications. Post graduation, I lived and worked in the suburbs of Chicago before choosing to embark on an adventure that landed me in Seoul, South Korea.
Almost two years ago, I traded the suburban scenery of Chicagoland in favor of Seoul’s urban environment. Just before Christmas of 2010, I began teaching English as a second language to Korean elementary school students. After the requisite three month period of adaption in Korea, I developed strong bonds with my students. Through our culture differences and the relationships I built with my students, I learned the value of perspective, especially in relation to agriculture.
I introduced agriculture to my students through photos of scenery familiar to farmers; combines, grain carts, augers spouting kernels of corn, even photos of animals caught in the chaos caught their attention. Through their eyes, I rediscovered the aspects of agriculture that make a farmer’s occupation unique.
After such a revelation, I considered the impact of a career in agriculture, particularly with the Farm Bureau. Thus far, this path of service seems to be a great fit. I look forward to meeting other like minded agricultural enthusiasts as well as serving the farmers of Illinois in this capacity.
