Final Days

As the end of my internship draws near, I have begun to reflect on my time spent with the Meade County Extension Service. On the surface it seems that the greatest benefit of this internship would be furthering my family consumer science knowledge and experience; however, my most valuable lesson was learning how to keep an open-mind. As a devout Christian, compassionate vegan, hardcore feminist, and young democrat, I fit into an extremely small population of people- a population that may not even exist in Meade County.  College has allowed me to cultivate and grow my own ideas, but it has also allowed me to pigeonhole myself into a narrow belief system that was rarely challenged. Being raised in this county, I knew that the transition back home would be tricky. Perhaps even more challenging would be keeping my professional and personal self in check. Oh, was I right. Fortunately, I had the extension agents, staff, and homemakers to reteach me how to respect diversity.

On my first day of work my supervising agent, Jennifer Bridge, was quick to give me a schedule of the events that would take place this summer including homemaker meetings, food preservation classes, farmers’ market demonstrations, 4-H Camp, and the county fair. I could tell my summer was going to be busy, educational, and fun. Even after only a few days of working with Jennifer, I learned that she was a determined woman who spoke her mind. Anytime she felt that she needed to voice her opinion she did. However, she did so with respect and professionalism, two things that I admittedly struggle with. Jennifer taught me how to respect others’ opinions, but to also voice my own. Besides my supervising agent, I spent most of my time with the women of the Meade County Extension Homemakers. These ladies taught me how to be a stronger woman. Seeing women take leadership roles, develop community service events, and care for their families made my feminist heart happy. The women in this organization know who they are both as individuals and as homemakers.  I hope that I can utilize the skills I have learned from the homemaker association in my future career and home. I can honestly say that I am now a more professional, caring woman than I was at the start of this internship.

On the other end of the extension spectrum was the agriculture agent Andy Mills. Within the first two weeks of work Andy had asked me to assist him with artificially inseminating a cow, which I gracefully had to decline. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Andy and I probably didn’t agree on much. As someone who does not willingly impregnate or eat animals, I learned a great deal from someone who does both of those things.  I learned from Andy that caring for animals is difficult work and not something to be taken lightly. Several times a week he would travel to local farms to help people provide the best care for their livestock. Thanks to Andy, I am more knowledgeable about the humane treatment of animals and how to interact with someone who was vastly different than myself.  The rest of the staff helped me to feel welcomed by answering any question I might have and by providing some much needed guidance. They even went out of their way to respect my lifestyle by bringing me vegan recipes and cupcakes. I could not be more thankful for the wonderful people that I worked alongside this summer.

At the start of this internship I believed that I would be too different to truly connect with the people I would be working with. Although opinions did vary and sometimes clash, it turns out that the diversity I encountered actually contributed to building more meaningful relationships. I learned more about the people and needs of this community than I would have ever thought possible. I would like to thank the people of Meade County for helping me grow as a professional and individual. I hope that one day I can use these lessons to give back to my hometown.