From One Intern to the Next

“Every good thing has to end eventually”, this old phrase has been running through my mind the past week. As my internship with the Nebraska Corn Board comes to an end this week I have been taking some time and reflecting on my experiences over the past year.

My internship started off last May with a bang. The farm bill was under discussion and everyone was working hard to gain support for the proposed bill. I remember creating Facebook posts, handouts, and reading about the farm bill. Little did I know at the time that the farm bill would not be finalized until half way through my year-long internship. I quickly moved on from farm bill work to attending ethanol promotions in Omaha and to hosting booths at local agriculture awareness days. These are some of my best memories I have from the Nebraska Corn Board. I found my passion for educating youth about agriculture.

As the summer came to an end, I finished by working at the State Fair and representing the Nebraska Corn Board. Once school started in the fall, things at work started to slow down for me a bit. Instead of devoting all my time to work, I now had to split the day with classes. Even though I was only working part-time, I still received a full-time load at work. I was constantly busy writing social media posts, or preparing for the trip to Agriculture Future of America (AFA). This year the Nebraska Corn Board sponsored five students to attend the AFA Leadership Conference in Kansas City. I was in charge of arranging a meeting place and driving the corn van to and from the AFA Leadership Conference.

Before I knew it spring semester rolled around, which meant crop progress reports started springing up again. I spent the majority of my spring semester organizing crop progress for 2014 and attending conferences. I was able to attend the Nebraska Women in Agriculture conference that was held in Kearney, Nebraska. While there I learned about how strong of an influence women have in the world of agriculture and how we need to reach out to consumers and tell them our story.

Now I am spending the week training our next intern and I am left with mixed emotions. I am excited to move on to the next stage of my life and to experience my second internship; however I will miss my experiences here at the Nebraska Corn Board. Over the course of this past year I have had the opportunity to experience conferences, network with industry professionals, learn way more corn facts than anyone could imagine, and most importantly, become good friends with the staff here at the Nebraska Corn Board. I can only hope that the staff at my next internship will be as welcoming as everyone here was.

“When one door closes another one opens” this is the new phrase that I will carry with me into my future. I am so thankful for the experiences gained here at the Nebraska Corn Board and will continue to use those experiences to better myself in the future.