The Unexpected Teaching Oppurtunity

“Everything happens for a reason.” 

Accepting a communications internship lead me to believe that I would be gaining more social media, radio and networking experience, which I was super excited to learn more about. What I was not expecting was to fall in love with my work every day because of an experience that was not in the job description. 

I am one of two communications interns at the Illinois Corn Marketing Board this summer. The other intern was not a usual pick at Illinois Corn because she had no agriculture experience at all. At first, I was really confused as to why she was here and even more importantly, how she got hired. She is a broadcast/journalism major from Illinois State University, and she found this internship from a professor at school. 

Illinois Corn was wanting to do some video work this summer and I was nervous because I have not had much experience making or editing videos. The other intern was hired because of her previous video experience which made me feel more at ease about the future tasks. On her first week on the job, we had Illinois Corn Growers Association and Illinois Corn Marketing Board meetings here in the office. As we sat through some meetings, I could see her eyes glazing over on the farming lingo and jargon they were using that I had been hearing most of my life. She was timid about asking questions at first, but I could tell she was curious to learn. This was my unexpected but amazing opportunity.

Throughout the summer, as we traveled to farms, businesses, and ethanol plants I would explain details that she likely would not know about. I got to use all of my Ag Ed knowledge and teach her in a way that she could understand but not in a way that would make her feel dumb for not knowing the answers. 

The more I taught her about the agriculture industry, the more she taught me about the communications and media industry. The differences I thought would set us apart actually helped mesh us together as a better team. 

By the end of the summer, as we drive around in the country she is able to tell me which fields look good and which fields could use a little work and I can edit videos like a champ and know which angles to use to get the best footage. 

We both were able to use our strengths to work as a team to complete the tasks at hand. This unexpected opportunity turned out to be my favorite part of the internship and has made me more interested in finding a career where I can continue to teach others about the agriculture industry.