I'll Take You For a Ride in my Big BLUE Tractor

This summer I have the opportunity to intern and be a member of a prominent agribusiness located in my hometown of Lancaster County, PA. New Holland Agriculture, which is a brand within Case New Holland Industry (CNH), has it's North American Headquarters campus located in the town of New Holland, PA. I am 1 among 19 interns located at the New Holland Campus, whom will be engaging in the internship program New Holland offers every year. 

New Holland is Celebrating their 120 Years

What has made my first two weeks exciting and welcoming have been the people, starting with my fellow interns. We each hail from universities and colleges all across North America and we embody a variety of majors consisting of engineering, marketing, business, agribusiness, and agriculture education as well as come from a diversity of previous agricultural experiences. From my first two weeks, I have already learned more from this group of interns through comparing and contrasting of my hometown and university to theirs then I have in combination of my past two interning experiences. Not only have they offered fun facts and information, but the four other interns that work in the same building as I do have all joined our buildings softball team for the summer. (Unfortunately we lost our first game) 

In addition to the interns, the employees of New Holland have exceeded all expectations. They made that first impression that professors continually teach us about, one that should be remembered. Having four straight days of meetings with all the directors and managers of our building was a lot, but collaboratively they set the stage for how the entire company functions and the atmosphere in which they work. Ever person we encountered was skilled, intelligent, dedicated, hardworking, progressive, and caring. They wanted each of the interns to experience and learn all they can this summer and they are willing to help out in any way to accomplish that. They were also interested in where we come from and what our goals were for the summer, which is refreshing and exciting as an intern to know they want us here as much as we want to be there. What ultimately blew my mind, was the career paths many of them took to be in their current positions within the company. Many worked within different departments requiring different skills and knowledge that they needed to be successful. This showed me the caliber of who I am privilege to work around all summer, in addition to the effectiveness of the company's structure, in they way they continually develop their employees skill sets and knowledge.

After four days I was able to return to my cubical housed in the Network Development (ND) Department where I will be working this summer. Talk about expectations being blown, what until you hear about this department! Most importantly I have felt nothing but comfortable around the employees within this department. They are open to having me ask questions, they continually greet me and engage in conversations with me, and include me in all their department meetings as well as invite me to attend all building meetings. Not only that, but they all are genuine during engagement. This is the atmosphere of New Holland in general though, which has made me excited to go to work each day. 

I have learned more in two weeks about this department then I have ever learned about anything. This is accredited to two factors. One being the people, particularly my manager, and the other being my project for the summer. Discussing my project will help you understand why my manager has been outstanding. My project for the summer is taking a manual previously developed in 2007 that outlines, describes, and provides understanding to the entire ND Department. My summer will be broken into two phases. The first phase is collecting information through research and interviews about the inner - workings of Network Development as well as the interrelatedness of other departments with ND. Phase two will be re-writing the manual. The purpose of the manual is to be able to give it to people who are new employees or need a detailed and thorough understanding of the workings of the ND Department. My manager has played the role of guiding me, by posing questions instead of telling me the answers and "how-to's" of the manual. This has allowed me to learn at an exponential rate but yet ensure my project is on track. In addition, he consistently reminds me of his open door policy to utilize his experience and knowledge of the department to bring concepts and information full circle.

Hopefully you can tell I am excited for the summer and what New Holland has in store for me. I have already been, and know I will be continually challenged throughout this summer. I am assured though I have been given all the support and resources I need to accomplish my task through the conversations and people I have met up to this point. 

Learning from the Wonders Within

The third annual Domestic Study Away Trip ventured down south to the hospitality state of Mississippi (MS). Our group of 15 Penn State Agriculture Educators set out to explore the role agriculture education plays within Mississippi's state at the high school, collegiate, extension, and business levels. With supervised agricultural experience (SAE) and financial literacy as our focal point, we were all hands on deck for a week of learning, teaching, and exploring. 

Our group of students who traveled

My preconceived notions of the culture and environment within Mississippi were along the lines of humid, rural, slower pace of life, dry, and thick southern accents.  As far as the agriculture went I believed I would see miles of fields of cotton, corn, and peanuts and a lot of grain operations. During the week I realized I was not far off with some of my perceptions but Mississippi come full circle for me as the days progressed. In other words...I was mind-blown by the agriculture, people, and communities we encountered. 

I consider myself a seasoned traveler by now, especially on the topics of airport policies, packing, and cultural barriers due to the eight countries I have visited and the multiple states I have explored. Due to this, I can say that Mississippi was a rare gem among the collection of places I have been. When told you are going to go learn about a a place's agriculture and culture for a week and that is your focus, it is hard not to feel a close connection because of the conscience awareness of absorbing everything you can. It is also hard not to be excited and thirsty to learn because of the sense of adventure mixed with a passion for agriculture. What continually astounds me though, from Arizona to Mississippi, is the majestic and hidden treasurers of people and places within each state. It is true that you do not need to go outside your home, weather that be county, state,  or country, to experience the beauty and uniqueness that surround us. 

View from the pier during an evening of reflections

With that being said, let's talk why the state of Mississippi was impacting in more ways then one. To learn all we did we traveled 1,400 miles across the state and had the opportunity to learn about 3 commodities that were unique to the south, catfish, peanuts, and cotton, visited and conversed with 6 agricultural education programs, in addition to being welcomed into several agribusinesses to pick the experts brains on the how's, why's, and what's of their businesses. The people who make the state of Mississippi what they are, were the reason for the success of our trip. Dr. Hock from Mississippi State University travelled with us all week and gave us opportunities we would not have had without her. Each school we visited had an open door policy to questions, exploration, and teaching their students SAE/financial literacy with our Pennsylvania flare. We explored MS's Farm Bureau, Extension & Research Campus (Largest in the country), CHS (sponsor of our trip), Beef and Cattlemen's Association, and many others who gave more then I felt we received. This statement is a testament to the humble, generous, and genuine people that we encountered consistently in Mississippi. Did I mention Mississippi is the hospitality state?

Our tour at CHS

Once again, returning to Pennsylvania was a good choice for my stomach and sleep schedule, but Mississippi left it's arms wide open for us to return to in any capacity. If you want to read the day by day blogs visit Teach Ag PSU Blogspot or follow the trip visually by visiting my Flickr account! A special thanks to our sponsors for the trip Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, UPAC, CHS, Center for Professional Personnel Development, and The Teach Ag! Society.

The back of our PSU Spaceship