As busy as this summer has been, I am sad to see it ending. Being selected to serve as the McHenry County Farm Bureau intern is one of the best things to ever happen for me. I have seen, tried and learned more things than I could ever have imagined.
Throughout the internship, I kept the website and Facebook page for McHenry County Farm Bureau up-to-date, promoted our events and wrote articles for newspapers. Spending time with Dan, Sue, Edie and Larry in the office while working on these things was always fun. I enjoyed being able to attend all of the events to take pictures and learn along the way. It was wonderful to meet Farm Bureau Members at a board meeting and Women's Committee members at their meeting.
The summer began with attending the CFB Intern and New Key Staff Seminar in Bloomington, Illinois. I learned about the Illinois Farm Bureau mission and duties, researched careers within the Farm Bureau Family of Companies, got taught how to write proper articles and capture the right photos for sharing information, discovered membership benefits and learned how policy development occurs for this "grassroots" organization. This experience definitely prepared me for the rest of the summer and was helpful for becoming familiar with the Farm Bureau.
The first big event I participated with was Summer Ag Institute. We took teachers around the county to see agricultural highlights within it for them to learn about different sectors of the industry and utilize information in future lesson plans. I learned just as much as they did about things from horseshoeing to alpaca farming and everything in between. It was rewarding to teach them about what I am familiar with, which was swine diseases and milk processing at Dean Foods in Chemung, Illinois. I also got to talk about Dean's at the County Board and Staff Tour, where we took County Board and Farm Bureau members around the county to meet agriculturalists, learn from them and share concerns anyone had. Another annual event that our Farm Bureau hosts is Dairy Promotion on the Woodstock Square. Dean's donates milk, cheese and ice cream for us to hand out and dairy calves are penned to see and pet. This is a fun opportunity for people to learn about and appreciate the dairy industry. The two places I worked at were closely knit and understanding about my busy schedule. That was something else I appreciated a lot about the internship.
The last big events this summer have been entertaining. I witnessed my first tractor trek and got to help with registration and taking videos of the event. There is nothing cooler than seeing a group of farmers so passionate about something and having so much fun with it. The pride they have in their tractors and the work put into them is quite a sight to see. Watching the public stare in amazement was nice to see as well. I wrapped up my internship experience at the McHenry County Fair. For the first time, I served milkshakes and ice cream at the Farm Bureau food booth and I intend to make that an annual tradition now! I also had the opportunity to introduce guest speaker and performer Greg Peterson from the Peterson Farm Brothers. Listening to him talk about how to ‘agvocate' was a unique opportunity and to meet and talk with him was awesome.
Overall, I am thankful for the people I have met and the work I got to accomplish through the internship. When working, learning and having fun are combined into one experience, it is guaranteed to be enjoyable. My leadership, communication and time management skills were improved upon and have prepared me for a variety of careers in the agriculture industry. Before this internship, working at Dean's and on the farm were the two big things I have done so far. This opportunity has given me business experience and exposed me to what working for a non-farm agricultural business is like. At the same time, I incorporated a lot of my main interests into this experience, which is animal science. The flexibility of the internship allowed me to keep my full time job, which was very helpful. Between the fun days in the office to times spent out on local farms or at the county fair, the memories gained from this experience will never be forgotten. I recommend this internship to anyone interested in agriculture and eligible for it. If interested in applying, contact the Farm Bureau office or myself and I will point you in the right direction. I hope you all have a great rest of the summer!
