I will forever remember my experience in Sydney, Australia, as a fundamental moment of growth. I learned an extensive amount about the world around me, culture, travel, and most importantly, myself. Australia is a beautiful country with a lifestyle like nowhere else in the world. The people, history, climate, work-life balance, opportunities, and love is felt within every aspect of the Australian culture. The University of Sydney is a vibrant, urban environment that cultivated success and learning, and I enjoyed every minute I spent studying there.

For the past semester, I have been working with Dr. Studer in his research lab. The biggest reason that I wanted to work in a lab was to continue to build my resume and gain lab experience. I also wanted to find out if I enjoyed working in a lab setting as I might be in a career field that requires a lot of time in a lab. It is also helpful to be able to practically apply what I have learned in class into real scenarios.

Last month, the University of Illinois Ag Ed Club traveled to St. Louis for their annual professional development trip. During this trip, over a dozen members visited various agriculture-related entities, including Breese Central High School, Excel Bottling Company, Osborn Barr Communications Inc., and Eckert’s Belleville Country Store and Farms. Not only were members presented with the opportunity to expand their knowledge of multiple facets of the agriculture industry, but students were also able to network with the University of Illinois alums in numerous agriculture sectors.

For me, graduate school had always been one of those vague goals in life, like taking a trip across Europe, or trying bungee jumping someday. It wasn’t until I became involved with the Illini Algae Research Group that my passion for research and learning started to coalesce into something more concrete.

Not only did I gain some research experience, but Illini Algae gave me the chance to practice presenting information to various audiences, gleaning information from academic journals, and writing a research paper.

I’m a senior majoring in Animal Sciences and minoring in Natural Resource Conservation. My future career goal is to work for an accredited zoo in a laboratory setting to conserve endangered species through genetic conservation and applied reproductive science.

This summer, I studied abroad in New Zealand and worked at the Wildbase Hospital. I helped care for their endangered bird species through specialized enrichment and conservation programs created to protect the biodiversity of New Zealand’s avian populations.

The Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) hosted its third annual Financial Planning Day on December 6, 2019. Students in the ACE Financial Planning concentration and those interested in financial planning and consumer economics all across campus were invited to participate in the all-day event.

My work as an ACES Global Food Security Graduate Fellow, reported in a previous blog post, leads me to explore how technology can improve crop production for smallholder farmers. Recently, I went to Mexico to know the reality of the farmers where the data I am using for my research is being collected.

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” I’ve long held this famous quote by Thomas Jefferson close to my heart. Growing up on a corn, soybean and beef cattle farm, agriculture has played a significant role in shaping me into who I am today. After deciding to pursue a career in agriculture, I realized there would be no better place to equip myself for that future than the University of Illinois. This decision, and these people and classes, will forever have an impact on my life and career.

Thanks in part to the generous support of the ACES Graduate Student International Research Grant, I was able to visit Mozambique twice during the fall semester to train extension workers and later evaluate their learning retention.

Over a year ago, I made the decision to stop eating meat. I thought that since I had more control over what I eat while away at college, I could easily make this change. However, it wasn't very easy at first, but I powered through the first few months and finally got used to meatless meals. I’ll admit that there were times when I slipped up and ate meat, but I didn’t let these instances stop me. A vegetarian diet is one way to be more sustainable, but the rise of cultured meats may prove to be another option.