Year: Junior
Company/Organization: John Deere
Title: Marketing Intern
Tiffany Poen, a junior in agricultural business and international agriculture and recipient of the Dwight and Marilyn Conover Leadership Scholarship, was supposed to be in Olathe, Kansas, this summer for a marketing internship at John Deere, where she was excited to experience a new city and make new friends. Instead, she’s working from a distance at a desk in her home. We chatted with Poen to see what she’ll miss the most about an in-person experience and what she still expects to gain virtually.
I’m guessing this past semester wasn’t the way you envisioned finishing out your sophomore year of college. How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted you?
COVID-19 affected both my studies and my internship this summer. I am disappointed I’m not in Olathe for my internship, but staying close to home gives me the opportunity to spend more time with my family and friends. This past semester, I really missed my in-person classes and the Ag Business Club. We had so many activities planned after campus shut down and were unable to carry out a leadership dinner that I was on the committee for, as well as the end-of-year banquet. I miss my friends and am ready to be back on campus in August!
What do you hope to gain from your online internship?
I was supposed to meet with dealership owners in person to look at their showroom displays, so now that I can’t do that, I might instead be checking out their websites, looking at their marketing products on that platform. John Deere is an awesome company, so I have no doubt that my experience will still be meaningful. I’m sad I wasn’t able to move to a new state for the summer, and I wish I would have been able to grow my network in person. However, this summer is going to be a huge learning experience for me, and I still get to know people through video calls. Even though it’s not the experience I was expecting, I think a lot of good will come out of it. I’m still really excited to learn more about the career I am pursuing.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to secure a full-time position in marketing/sales for John Deere in Olathe. As for life plans, I’d like to travel a lot for work, hopefully internationally at some point, and then eventually move back home where I grew up. After moving back, I’d like to work for a John Deere dealership close to home in marketing/sales. I worked for a dealership last summer and really loved the hands-on aspect of talking with farmers about their needs and helping them out.