As we head into a new school year full of change, uncertainty and new opportunity, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on a summer full of personal and professional development. A summer that has taught me to embrace all of what life has to offer: Unpredictability and Unknowns.

When I became a writer for the College of ACES, I didn’t exactly know what to expect. Being a journalism major and someone who tries to avoid any type of science classes at all costs, applying for a job in ACES was very out of my comfort zone. I didn’t really know anything about the agriculture industry or even how I would be able to write about it. I did, however, know how to interview people, listen to their stories, and then tell those stories to others.

As a product developer for Quaker Foods North America, Melissa supports innovation projects, focused on the bars category. Working on new product innovation involves creating formulas in benchtop formulation, scaling products up to full plant production, and working cross functionally to deliver the desired product in a safe and nutritious way. This requires both technical understanding to develop the product and communication skills to collaborate with the project team.

Around the world, many people live with the burden of not knowing from where their next meal will come. I grew up in Chicago, and although I did not realize it at the time, food insecurity was a very real struggle for many of my peers. In 2014, 338,000 students in the Chicago Public Schools system qualified for free or reduced school lunches. This was enough for the school district to begin offering free breakfast and lunch to all of its students.

Hundreds of high school students are filling the stock pavilion, over 60 volunteers are getting classrooms ready, making sure the long line of pizzas are ready to feed a hungry crowd or checking in the busloads of FFA Greenhands and their advisors, and a committee of conference planners waits excitedly for all of their hard work to unfold.

Coming to the University of Illinois, I was accepted into the College of ACES as Undeclared; however, I had an idea that I wanted to point in the animal science direction. The only thing that was unclear for me was what my concentration would be in. Would it be pre-vet, companion animals and equine science, or food animal production and management?

Over the past several months, students like Kayla Vittore have had to adapt to ever-changing requirements and restrictions due to COVID-19. While these rules can be difficult to adapt to when working with other people, the situation is much easier for budding scientists like Kayla who work with non-human organisms likes plants and bacteria.

Back in May, student Veronica Casey was thrilled to learn she had received an undergraduate summer research fellowship from the American Society for Plant Biologists (ASPB-SURF) to fund her research project on the spread of copper resistance by bacterial pathogens of tomato and pepper plants.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop

People may often hear those working in philanthropy saying, “No gift is too small.” As trite as Aesop’s quote and a fundraiser’s conviction might sound, this time of year reminds us all efforts do make a difference.