Getting in the groove of being an intern

I started my internship Monday May 19th. I got to the office and everyone was friendly and interested in meeting me. I took a tour around the building learning where all the rooms were and meeting all of the other people in the office. We had a staff meeting first thing that morning so I got to see how they keep their schedules organized between each other. They all seemed like they truly enjoyed their jobs and it created a great atmosphere in the office.
The first two days I was recruited by the 4-h agent to help her and the other intern with shucking hams for the 4-h country ham contest. I had never been involved in the process of curing a country ham so it was very interesting to see, and also work with the 4-h kids. We did this at the Woodford County extension office. I was able to meet their agents and tour their office while I was there. It was beneficial to see how they ran their office and I could compare it to our office.

The rest of the week was filled with various tasks. I was pleased when they set up my computer account and got my first desk! I didn't spend much time in the office because the week was filled with field activities. That Wednesday, we had a district staff meeting which I found interesting. It helped me learn how the extension program is ran and all of the behind the scenes stuff. Meeting other county agents and their interns was definitely beneficial. We we able to take a couple farm visits on Thursday and Friday. That was the part of the job I was looking forward to. On one farm, we caught sheep, gave them shots and castrated them. That was the first time I had hands on experience with sheep so it was a learning experience for me. The other farm visit consisted of going through a mans wheat and corn fields investigating discoloring of some of the leaves. We took a few samples and researched them at the office to find out the problem and the solution.

The next Tuesday I was excited to get into the office to see what we would be getting into. We didn't have much planned so I did some paper work and organizing around the office.We received a call from a farmer about his square bales being too moist that he just baled. So we took a trip to visit him and I learned how to use the device that tests the moisture in hay. Afterwards I used my time to help the 4-h agents to help them get some of their stuff done. Thursday was a very busy day. We traveled to Anderson County to meet with the ag agent there and plan the Cattleman's trip to Oregon. That was very difficult to organize but it was a good learning experience. After that, we had another meeting with 2 men for our Farm City Field Day. For my project I will be having my own station where people will come up and watch me present my material. Then, I helped organize and run the Cattleman's dinner and meeting. I enjoy having leadership roles and having these responsibilities.