As a transfer student from Black Hawk East, I was ready for a change from the community college experience. I knew Iowa State was going to be a great change of pace, but I had no idea the path it would take me on.
My first semester at ISU was a learning curve. Trying to meet new people, get involved in clubs, and not drown in class work. By second semester, I was a seasoned pro. I had made friends, joined clubs, and hadn’t failed any classes!
One organization that I joined my first year was Sigma Alpha, a professional agricultural sorority. This experience led me to many great contacts in the ag industry and opened my eyes to new careers that I had not thought about previously. One such career was marketing. I found my passion in marketing and felt that this was something I really wanted to pursue. So I picked up marketing as a second major, leading me into a new industry with new networks, friends, and experiences.
I had three internships in my three years at Iowa State. My favorite was working as a Marketing Intern at Farm Nutrients, a full-service agronomy center in Rembrandt, IA. This role allowed me to use what marketing skill I had gained in past jobs and clubs, and create an entire marketing program for Farm Nutrients. I worked with salesmen and management to decide what marketing materials needed to be made, what the website and social media pages needed to accomplish, attended events to take pictures and video to be used on social media accounts, and even created a newsletter. While this job was a lot of work, I was able to meet a great group of friends who were interning at Rembrandt Foods, Farm Nutrients’ parent company. And, since the headquarters are in Spirit Lake, IA, I got to spend my free time with my new friends on Lake Okoboji. This internship was 12 weeks long, but it felt like only four. It was a blast and a half and I’m very grateful I was given this opportunity.
I still can’t believe, most days, that I was lucky enough to be here at Iowa State. The education, the internship opportunities, and extra-curricular activities have made me so happy and proud to have been a student here. I knew college was going to be awesome, but I had no idea it would be this awesome.
Enjoy your time at Iowa State, don’t be afraid to try things outside of your comfort zone. You may stumble upon something you never knew existed.