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Agricultural Communication & Journalism Internships

Category: Graphic Design

Learning About Wheat – Mary Marsh

Posted on by kjburke
Mary snapping photos in the greenhouse.

This school year, I started a whole new job- I was the communications intern for Kansas Wheat. This job was way different than any of my other jobs. This was my first office job. I heard about this job by word-of-mouth from one of my friends. Other students can apply for this internship by filling out the application, emailing their resume and cover letter to Jordan Hildebrand.

Kansas Wheat Commission has the checkoff program, and two cents from every bushel of wheat sold goes into this program. This funds efforts for communication and lobbying on behalf of the farmer. It is the job of the Kansas Wheat Commission to give a voice to the Kansas wheat farmers.

My job as intern was to report to Jordan Hildebrand and Marsha Boswell. They were great to work for. They wanted to see the interns excel and were willing to help in any way they could. We were in the same building as the Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom which meant more people who could help if I had a question about different programs and ideas.

Coming into this internship, I swore I was not interested in writing. I did not want to be a writer. I was more interested in doing social media, graphic design, and video work. After creating social media content for a few months though, I found that it was not really my forte. I enjoyed seeing my posts getting attention, likes and shares and being creative and quirky was up my alley. On the other hand, we were trying so hard to build a lot of content that many posts were unnecessary. They noticed I was getting bored with content creation, so they let the other intern be in charge of that task. Without having to do the social media content, I was free to work on various writing assignments.

My three favorite writing assignments were “What is Hopping with Wheat Beer”, “Norman Borlaug” and “Heritage versus Modern Wheat”. This gave me a chance to learn more about the science behind beer, what makes a wheat beer, and if wheat would affect flavor, color, or body of the beer. It was a chance for me to learn more about chemical processes behind beer creation and it debunked many previous notions I had about wheat beer! I got to really dive head first and find out about the life and times of Norman Borlaug. As for the heritage versus modern wheat article, I got to learn more about what it is and the differences are. I did not realize how much I love and miss writing. I was really proud of the stories I wrote and submitted. This has given me some direction for what I want to go into after graduation.

The best day at work though was easily the day when I got to take pictures in the greenhouse. I took my personal camera and I went crazy! I took so many pictures of the wheat in different stages of growth. It was fun getting to shoot in a variety of lighting all in one swoop!

Overall, this internship was excellent and I had a great time. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a little bit unsure what direction they want to take with their degree. It was easily one of the best jobs I have ever had. I cannot wait to continue with them next year.

Where the Grain Commodities Align – Tarra Rotstein

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Pasta, leavened and unleavened bread, meat, soy milk, tofu, and ethanol may appear to have nothing in common but all of these products can be produced from four main commodities: wheat, corn, sorghum and soybeans. In summer 2018, I served as the communications intern for the IGP Institute. The IGP Institute is an entity of the Kansas State University Department of Grain Science and Industry. At the Institute they educate professionals in the industry about grains and their different processes to help those professionals run their facilities more efficiently. Through this opportunity I was able to learn about the grain industry and the impact that U.S. grains has world-wide. I was able to work closely with the communications team: Lisa Moser, marketing and communications coordinator, who served as my supervisor; Pat Hackenberg, educational media coordinator; and Kelly Boswell, events coordinator. The IGP Institute is located in Manhattan, Kansas. This allowed me to have extra learning time, because I started the Monday after finals and had my last day the Friday before school started.

I found out about this internship through a friend who had the internship the previous summer and enjoyed it so much. I knew I had to apply for the opportunity.

Each day of my internship gave me the opportunity to learn more. My tasks day-to-day differed, but I had the same tasks each time a course was taking place. Every time a course took place, it meant that I was in charge of capturing the photography and videography for the course, writing a news release, creating a video recap of what happened during the course and interviewing a few participants on camera. This involved planning out my entire week, the Friday or Monday of to ensure I took pictures and videos at the most optimal times, along with coordinating with the course instructor times for interviews and who to interview. I also scheduled a time with the course instructor to record their portion of the video recap for the course.

One of my biggest projects over the summer was redesigning the Department of Grain Science and Industry website. I felt a huge honor in being the one to come up with the plan for redesigning it and when it was approved by the Department Head it felt awesome. I was not interested in web design before entering this internship, and now I am. I have been exposed to web design and have lots of hands-on experience that I can take with me throughout my career.

During my internship I knew there were opportunities to work on video projects and I let my supervisor know I was interested in those. She assigned more projects to me where I worked in videography which was beneficial to my interest and has made me want to continue to pursue those interests.

If there was one thing I learned this summer more than anything, it was that I learned how to learn. In the communications world everything is always changing from social media platform algorithms to updates on Adobe software to working on a new type of computer; there will always be changes that are challenging. I learned how to overcome those changes by learning from others and the internet. If you are ready to learn and want to experience what a ‘real’ job is like, apply! In this position I never felt like just the intern, I was doing projects that needed to be done for the organization and was making a difference.

Harvest and Grain-Working for a Co-op – Mikey Hughes

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I spent every summer of my childhood on my family’s harvest crew. In mid-May, we would load up our belongings and head toward Texas, spend the summer cutting crops throughout the Midwest, then come back home right after school started. I never got to spend my summer at the pool with my friends, but I wouldn’t change anything about my upbringing. I remember the co-op as an essential part of my family’s business. Traveling to the co-op not only meant receiving some candy, but also dropping off the grain and earning money the farmer had worked all year to collect.

My name is Mikey Hughes. I served as a communications intern for Mid Kansas Cooperative in summer 2018. I am currently continuing my education at K-State as a junior in agricultural communications and journalism.

I began my internship with MKC in February as a member of the Collegiate Career Development Program in Manhattan, Kansas, but I worked in Moundridge, Kansas for the summer. My internship extended past the summer and I am yet again a member of the CCD.

Since joining MKC, my knowledge of the cooperative system has greatly expanded. One of the best parts of working for MKC has been experiencing the value this company places on interns, employees, member-owners and the surrounding communities.

During the summer, I worked on most of the communications materials produced by MKC, both internally and externally. My regular tasks included: writing a producing a monthly employee newsletter, writing bi-weekly articles, managing content on social media, designing graphics as needed, managing content on the website and taking photographs for use in publications.

My final project this summer was writing and directing a short commercial for MKC. My plan included producing a compelling, short commercial that will represent the company for several years that can be used for many different outlets. You can find the finished product, and much of my other work on MKC’s Facebook page.

I have enjoyed working in many areas across the communications field. As an agricultural communicator, I am well-aware that my future role will likely be as diverse as my internship was. I learned how to write for the audience I am targeting, run analytics on social media and develop strategic communications plans for the project I am working on. Those skills are just a few of the concepts I will transfer to my future career.

MKC’s internship was a taste of what my future career will look like. If you’re seeking an internship that provides actual experience and treats you like a member of the team, this one is for you. I went into work every day this summer knowing that my job was valued and necessary for the success of the company. I cannot think of an internship that places so much responsibility on the intern and I am thankful for the opportunity to work for a company like MKC.

My Internship, My Career Path – MiK Fox

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What a summer! Crazy, hectic and fun are some of the most descriptive words that sum up how my summer flew by. I had the privilege of interning with communications department at the lovely Kansas Department of Agriculture in Manhattan, Kansas, in summer 2018. The Kansas Department of Agriculture is devoted to the total support of agriculture in Kansas. KDA works for the entire Kansas agriculture sector, including farmers, ranchers, food establishments and agribusinesses. As an intern, I had a lot of roles and responsibilities that were assigned to me. Managing social media platforms, creating social media content and calendars, and designing graphics were just a few of the numerous projects that I had a hand in completing this summer.

With no previous experience in the Adobe programs besides the basic layout class that I took this past spring, I think that this internship has helped to solidify those things and push me to learn more. Looking ahead into the future with graduation right around the corner, these skills will help put me to the forefront of prospects. The absolute worst thing (but also one of the best things because it taught me a lot) that I was able to experience was the changing of ALL printed materials in an under 24-hour time frame. This was something entirely out of my control but it was something that we all had to rectify in a VERY small window of time. Something I will take away from this: always ask questions. Ask if this is their final version. Ask if they have checked the content they are using. Ask if they are sure the name they have chosen is the final decision. Ask. Ask. Ask. Never feel silly for asking questions.

I think that one of the most memorable events that I was able to be a part of this summer was the day the United States Secretary of Agriculture came to visit. Where else would a college student be able to be a part of an experience like this except at the department of agriculture? Let alone be able to take a selfie with him and shake his hand? Being in the department of agriculture allows you to work in ways that probably would not have been previously thought about. I was able to help out with the FFA state convention – this was something I had not thought would happen. I also was able to go to the local sale barn for lunch – this was something some of the other interns had never done before so it was neat to hear their reactions and listen to what they thought about sale barns in general.

Thanks to this internship, I think that my career plans for after graduation have been altered just a little bit. I learned through a networking event this summer that not all lobbyists go to law school. I also learned that networking goes a long ways in helping you find a job after college graduation. That being said, I had a feeling before this summer began that I did not want to go to more school after I graduate – meaning law school after graduation is probably not going to happen, at least for a while. I realized that I really do want to be involved in the agricultural policy world. I love talking to people and hearing their stories. Those stories end up having an impact on more laws, rules and regulations than most people realize. I want to see how the story of a single farmer impacts an entire piece of legislation. I want to see how the farm bill is created, updated, changed and put into law. I want to understand everything that impacts both the farmer/rancher and the end consumer. I also want to be a big part in helping educate the end consumer on the products that they use every single day.

This internship went by a lot faster than I had anticipated. Before I knew it, it was the week before school and I was preparing for my class load that senior year had in store for me. I highly recommend this internship to anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of Kansas agriculture, enjoys sharing the story of Kansas agriculture, and wants a very hands on internship. I heard this summer that you learn what you really like and what you really don’t like during internships. Having an internship that opens doors can play a huge role in the outcome of your future endeavors.

Kansas City Summer – Emily Meinhardt

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Growing up, I had a huge interest in learning about the breed associations. Being involved in the Hereford breed for many years, I knew I wanted to expand my horizons and learn about another breed. In summer of 2018, I was the Communications Intern for the American Shorthorn Association in Kansas City, MO. I began this internship at the beginning of June and completed it in early August.

The biggest responsibility in this internship was helping plan and put on Shorthorn Junior Nationals and The Summit Leadership Conference. This position gave me a lot of experience with creating content and scheduling posts for the American Shorthorn Association and American Junior Shorthorn Association Facebook pages. I planned out weekly motivational posts and Throwback Thursday post. Other responsibilities involved designing promotional graphics, press releases, and photography. I learned about creating a publication and getting it prepared to send to press. My biggest area of growth was in working in Adobe. I got to spend every day this summer creating content for social media which allowed me to fine tune my skills. I found that I really enjoy creating publications and would like to apply that to my future career. One of my favorite things about this internship was creating promotional content that I got to see the engagement it received on social media. I also enjoyed getting to know the youth within the breed and making connections in another breed.

The American Shorthorn Association internship was sent out on the K-State AgCom Email Listserv. The details for applying for this internship are typically always sent out by the department. Individuals who have an interest in registration, youth activities or communications should look at this internship. It is a great work environment and gives the intern several areas to grow in. The American Shorthorn Association always loves having K-State students, so I encourage anyone interested to apply.

Advocating for Kansas Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Life – Kyler Langvardt

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Food bank work is just one of the many opportunities during a KFB internship

Advocate, educate and serve. These are the three pillars of Kansas Farm Bureau. I was able to intern with Kansas Farm Bureau for the past two years as a Communications Intern, actively engaging in all three pillars. I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences serving the state’s largest farm organization.

With headquarters in Manhattan, Kansas Farm Bureau serves over 90,000 members across the state, representing their interests on the state and national level. Although the majority of our work focuses on farmers and ranchers, the organization also focuses on rural life and member services. Because of the breadth of KFB’s activities, the communications division has to work with each area to correctly communicate their goals and mission.

As a KFB intern, I have been able to work on a variety of projects in many different communications outlets, such as writing, graphic design, radio and more. My favorite projects include those I was able to accomplish for county Farm Bureau organizations. Because each Kansas county has a Farm Bureau organization, many will need communication projects for their events and programs. They are able to submit requests to the state organization, and I am able to provide them with needed materials.

It is great as an intern to see your materials being used in real world situations. I was able to see works be used at the Kansas State Fair, at the Kansas Farm Bureau Annual Meeting and even at local county fairs through county Farm Bureau programs. Kansas Farm Bureau also has done an excellent job of making interns feel a part of the company culture and providing educational opportunities with agriculturists, as well as service opportunities, like packaging over 10,000 meals for food banks across Kansas.

Kansas Farm Bureau searches for interns who are available for multiple years and can grow in their skills during their time interning with the organization. KFB accepts interns during the school year as well as the summer. If advocating for agriculture, educating consumers about food or serving the state’s largest farm organization sounds interesting to you, I would recommend searching for opportunities at Kansas Farm Bureau (and even if you can’t intern, be sure to join Kansas Farm Bureau for all of the great benefits!).

Making the Best Better—My Internship with K-State Research and Extension – Katie Harbert

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Katie Harbert (left) during her Extension internship in 2018

In summer 2018, I worked as a communications intern in the Kingman County K-State Research and Extension office. I heard about this internship through a connection with one of the extension agents. They had changed a full-time program assistant to a summer-only position, providing extra assistance in communication and outreach programs during the busiest time of the year. Never having been in 4-H, I was apprehensive about the job, fearing that my lack of knowledge of the organization would affect my performance. However, I decided to take the leap and use the internship as an opportunity to learn more about 4-H and extension.  

As the communications intern, I was able to create graphics for social media posts, design flyers for community outreach programs and assist with seasonal projects in the office. Doing such a wide variety of tasks, I learned how to apply concepts from the classroom in real-world situations. I also gained valuable experience in working in a full-time job environment. My biggest area of growth throughout this internship was in professionalism. Only having part-time jobs in the past, I had never experienced many of the new responsibilities that come with working full-time.I learned that no matter how skilled I may think I am in a certain area, there is always room for improvement. Through this opportunity, I was able to expand my knowledge in how to present myself in a professional manner and learn from my coworkers.

County fair week was definitely the most exciting week of my internship, and also my favorite. Despite the late nights and early mornings, watching 4-Hers proudly show off the projects they spent all summer creating and finally bringing the livestock they have worked with for months into the show ring is always worth the stress that comes with the fair. Seeing the months of planning and preparing for the fair come to fruition is a highly rewarding experience. I also enjoy having people from all across the county coming together to look at the exhibits, participate in the food and livestock auctions and come to the community-wide events throughout the fair.

With my favorite part of my internship also comes my least favorite. With the vast array of events all happening at the same time during the fair, unexpected turns of events and problems are bound to arise. Handling these situations involves thinking of solutions on the spot, a skill that I am not strong in. Although this was challenging, learning to find quick resolutions and being willing to accept changes in plans were valuable lessons that I will use in any career. 

Through this internship, I have realized my passion for extension and plan on applying this experience to my career plans through the possibility of working as an extension agent in the future. I would recommend this internship to any students, regardless of a background in 4-H, who are looking for an exciting, fast-paced internship where no day is the same. Students interested in extension work can apply for similar internships, which typically run May through August, through the K-State Research and Extension Intern Program.

Merging Ag Communications and Ag Education – Bryanna Cook

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In the Summer of 2018, I had the opportunity to intern with Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC) in Manhattan, Kansas. My adviser passed along information to me that they were hiring a Communications and Database intern. I was excited to apply for this opportunity as I had not yet had an internship. This was also a great opportunity to build my portfolio which was pretty bare at that time. Broadening my knowledge of how nonprofits work was another benefit of this position.

KFAC’s mission is connecting classrooms to Kansas agriculture. They are able to do this by providing free lesson plans for teachers, resources such as the Kansas Kids Connection magazines, professional development opportunities and much more. This would not be possible without the support from their donors, as well as grants.

From the beginning of my internship, I could tell that KFAC wanted to change their brand style. To start this process, we used colors from our current logo. We had recently started to build a new website, which had been a project even before they hired me. On our new website, we needed to update all of our lesson plans and resources for teachers. We also wanted more analytics to show who was downloading our lesson plans and which ones were actually getting downloaded. With this new website, we were able to do just that.

I was assigned to make new templates for all of our materials to match the look of the new website. I started with making a new lesson plan template and updating more than 45 lesson plans in this template. I then moved on to our companion resources, which all had to be updated a bit differently, but with a cohesive brand. This was not a simple task since there were so many of them, but with time and patience I was able to complete each task.

Another big task was our Foundation on the First, which is a monthly newsletter that we send out to donors and teachers to stay up to date on what KFAC is doing. We wanted to put news, our teacher feature, a donor feature and a lesson plan feature into the newsletter.

After our website was complete, we decided we needed new marketing resources for when we travel. We needed three brochures; one for our Agri-Tag, an about us card and a support brochure. It was up to me to design these, and I really wanted to make sure they matched KFAC’s brand. Making each of these brochures took time and they each needed their own look so they are easily identifiable but also separate from each other. We also made new business cards that matched our new brand colors as well.

During my internship, I got to use skills that I was taught in AgCom courses that I had never been able to use before. One of my big projects was to create a logo for our school year theme, “Plants on the Planet.” For our school year theme, we are able to take lesson plans and resources that fit the theme and put them all together for teachers. For my logo design, I had to draw the Earth in Illustrator as well as crops like grain sorghum, milo, corn and sunflowers. Once each part of the logo was done, I was able to bring them into Indesign for the finished product.

Interning at KFAC has been a learning experience for me, not just as a communicator but as a professional. The freedom I have been given to create real materials on my own has been a great asset to prepare me for my future career. My boss, a K-State agcom alumna, has helped me with projects while working in Adobe, resumes and even cover letters. This has made my internship so much more memorable than it already is and I know that I will be ready for my future when I graduate.

Kansas Water Office- Karli Pryor

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Over the summer, and throughout the fall 2017- spring 2018 school year, I interned with the Kansas Water Office, as a graphic design intern. I found out about this internship through the Agricultural Communications List-Server, and applied by sending my resume and cover letter to my now supervisor. I would recommend this internship to anyone interested in design, video projects, and social media work.

While I worked on a variety of projects, my “day-to-day” design work is creating graphics for KWO’s social media, mainly Facebook and Twitter. This ranged from looking at the national calendar and seeing if any upcoming national days could relate to water, to looking through KWO’s previous projects and creating social media graphic templates to showcase these projects. Along with building the graphics, I also had to develop wording for posts and decide the best hash tags and people to tag in order to gain more interaction with each post.

My biggest projects over summer were to develop a universal template design for various fact sheets. The water office wanted to move to a more professional look, which meant giving their various sheets a cohesive look. Since it is a government agency, fact sheets are handed out to legislators, lobbyist, senators, etc., having a further developed brand and design makes our sheets more recognizable, which was an exciting part of my position, and knowing that my work was making a difference.

I was also lucky to be able to travel around Kansas this summer taking pictures and videos of different lakes and reservoirs around the state to create factual videos about them. This was something I proposed to my boss, which ended up being very successful. It was definitely a learning experience, since I do not have very much photography experience, I was able to expand my portfolio and learn more about photography and videography through this project.

The work I have done during my tine at KWO has greatly increased applicable work for my portfolio. My supervisor was great about working with me to develop projects that suited my interest, and talents. I felt that since I was able to mold my experience with them, I was able to build on to what I want to do with my career.

Purple Visions Production – Carlee Meeks

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This fall, I took a risk by interning for a small livestock photographer. It was not the typical internship by any means. The owner of Purple Visions Production, Derek Vogt, approached me about coming to work for him. I’ve always been interested in career in livestock photography so I decided to take the chance and learn the ropes from an extremely talented photographer.

Unique is one way to describe my experience. Unlike most internships, I was the first person to join the business. Although it was a difference experience, it was the perfect fit for me. Derek has grown his small business so much in the last two years, it was an honor to learn and work with him by traveling around Neb. and Kan. to different cattle operations. He taught me all the necessary skills needed while also pushing me to grow and learn things on my own.

Every weekend I would hit the road and travel to new cattle operation. These operations need videos and photographs to promote their online or production sale that they have upcoming. It is intimidating to be responsible for such a large task because the operation relays on it for their success. Derek trusted me by giving me my own livestock shoots. Because of his trust in me, my confidence in my photography skills has grown so much in the past three months.

My other responsibilities for Purple Visions included contacting and communicating with clients, finding potential clients, posting content on Facebook and designing graphics for clients. In the past, Derek has not offered any graphic design. It’s exciting to have the opportunity of growing the company by offering another area of skills that I have worked on developing.

My biggest area of growth that I realized was my ability to work independently with minimal supervision. I also recognized my ability to communicate effectively with my employer and clients by listening and then producing accurate content that they envisioned.

Through my many activities at Purple Visions I have grown as a photographer, designer and overall communicator. I’ve grown to love this business and the people that I get to work with each week. I look forward to where a career with Purple Visions will take me. Taking the risk of interning for a small business worked for me and it could work for you too if you’re willing to take the chance.

 

Kansas FFA Foundation- Kelli Schrag

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I interned at the Kansas FFA Foundation as the Events and Donor Outreach Coordinator. My duties included creating social media campaigns, contacting current and potential donors and designing graphics for mailers. Through this internship, I learned the importance of professionalism, as I’m not only representing myself but the Foundation and Kansas FFA members. I also learned how to write in a manner that suggests interaction and donation from the reader. My biggest area of growth was definitely my graphic design skills. In the past, there were two interns at the Foundation with one being specific to graphic design. However, this year all responsibilities were shifted to my position. My favorite part of the internship was the environment that I worked in. My desk was next to the Kansas Farm Bureau interns and the vibe was always positive in our row. My least favorite part of the internship was calling potential donors and asking for their partnership in a certain scholarship or sponsorship opportunity. I was always nervous whenever I called and that really didn’t change no matter how many calls I made. Still, it was a good skill to practice and it will help me in my future job. Much of what I did during this internship is applicable to my career goals. My goal is to work in a communications or marketing department for a livestock association. Learning how to write an effective campaign, developing my design skills and practicing my communication skills will all be beneficial for this line of work.

I learned about this internship through the department listserv. There aren’t set dates of the internship- I was hired my freshman year and am currently still working for the Foundation. Because so much training is required for the position, the goal is for an intern to work for the Foundation for the majority of their college career. Once the intern position is open, applications can be sent to Beth Gaines, the Foundation Executive Director. Applications consist of a resume, work samples and references. I would recommend this internship to underclassmen looking for a growth opportunity in the communications field. Creativity, a strong work ethic and a positive personality are great attributes for this position.

KANZA Inc., KMZU 100.7 FM – Molly Bertz

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Sarah Evans wrote a song in 2005 called “Missing Missouri.” I listened to it on repeat during the fall and spring semester of my sophomore year. After spending two continuous years in Manhattan, Kansas, I badly missed the summer breeze floating into the open windows of my parent’s farm house. I knew that this would be the last time to be  “dependent” on my parents, to see my brother enter his senior year of high school and to enjoy nights under the stars with my family. So I took the chance to take a summer internship that allowed me to be located at home and gave me the flexibility to enjoy a sweet Missouri summer.

During the months of May through August, I interned at a local farm broadcasting station in Carrollton, Missouri called KANZA Inc., KMZU 100.7 FM. I heard about the internship while listening to the radio as I was driving home one weekend. I emailed my resume and cover letter to my supervisors and attended a formal interview in their office a few weeks later. There were two interns including myself and our duties were catered towards our interests and skills.

During my internship, I conducted interviews, wrote news articles, conducted live remote broadcasts, coordinated a promotional giveaway and managed social media and design.

As an intern, I learned more about the medium of broadcast journalism. This form of journalism relies heavily on sales and advertising, as advertisement dollars are needed to fund the music and programming that airs on the station. Our radio station also offered 24-hour local news coverage, which meant we remained updated on the current events in over 15 counties.

My duties throughout the summer were various, but I spent most of my time working on our promotional giveaway that occurred throughout the entirety of the summer. I attended many remote broadcasts and collected entries to win our $14,000 Mahindra XTV. We partnered with a local Mahindra dealership to create a promotional campaign for both their business and KMZU. We conducted “pop-up” entries throughout the summer as well through social media and on air call-ins.

I quickly learned that no matter where you work, big or small, you will always encounter someone who does not agree with your idea. It was humbling to learn that I couldn’t be married to an idea, story or design. Although I may have thought the product was outstanding, the approval of my supervisor was superior to my wants. Because I was willing to adapt and change based on the decision of a group, my employers were pleased with the end result.

My favorite part of the summer was attending remote broadcasts. Throughout the course of the summer, these events also challenged my thinking and provided me with a better understanding of what I hoped to do in the future. I learned through these events because I saw what an importance this small, local radio station was to the community. People were eager to talk with the DJ and finally put a face to the name they listened to every day. Every tractor in west central Missouri was tuned in to hear our bottom and top of the hour farm market reports. KMZU was many community members source for local news. People came to fairs, festivals and fundraisers because they “heard about it on the radio.”

Although my internship didn’t have a fancy title or wasn’t attached to a widely known company, I still found it to be worthy. Many believe that radio, along with newsprint is a dying breed. Broadcast journalism mediums may be changing, but I believe they still have a large role in the continuation and success of rural America.

Through this internship experience, I have a better understanding of where my interests lie. I hope to work not in broadcast journalism, but in advertising and marketing communications. More importantly, this internship highlighted the benefits and challenges of working a rural community. I want to live and raise my family in a small town similar to those I was able to work in this summer. This “dream job” may not come with an engraved nameplate or a fancy office suite, but I can help impact the lives of others through my work and give back to a community and a place that has given so much to me.

Ringel Farms- Sarah Krehbiel

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I interned with Ringel Farms out of Alma, Kansas this past summer. They grow grass fed beef, pastured pork, and chickens. They marketed their products at the Downtown Topeka Farmers Markets throughout the spring and summer. They also have a website. My duties were to create a brochure about their farm and products, create a monthly (which ended up being bimonthly) newsletter, keep their Facebook page up to date, and various other promotional posters. I learned about this internship through an email from the ACJ department. To apply next year, there will be an email sent out through the department next spring.

My favorite part about this internship was attending farmers markets and interacting with the consumers. My least favorite part of this internship was that it was unpaid, however the internship was remote, so I was able to live at home and work with them via email and phone calls.

I learned that you have to be extremely clear and concise when promoting agriculture to the public. My biggest growth is being able to better convey a clear, concise and truthful message about agriculture to consumers, farmers, and ranchers.

I plan to have a pick-your-own vegetable farm with my sister next summer. Our main goal is to educate the public about agriculture and where their food comes from and how it is raised. This internship has showed me how to better educate the public and even farmers and ranchers, on agriculture and promoting agriculture. It has showed me just how important it is to educate the public!

This internship is not just for any individual. Ringel Farms is looking for an individual that can help them better implement agricultural communications to promote and disseminate their products. At the end of the internship, I realize more than before, how very important it is to convey a truthful message about agriculture not only to the public but also to the farmers and ranchers.

American Shorthorn Association- Leah Giess

Posted on by kmtully

Growing up in the cattle industry I knew instantly that I would love to intern at a breed association. I am very active in my Junior Association and knew I had the knowledge and experience to feel comfortable in this internship setting. However, going behind the scenes of a junior nationals or leadership conference is A LOT more work than what it seems when you are just attending or participating in the event, it was truly a learning experience.

In May I started my position as the Communications and Marketing intern for the American Shorthorn Association in Kansas City, MO. In my position I assisted in the planning and scheduling of the social media pages for ASA, AJSA and NJS. I researched for promotional items and assisted in the production of the Association’s publications. Other duties included graphic design, press releases, website updates, photography, and videography.

Some of the projects I enjoyed the most this past summer, were working on the exhibitor folder for the National Junior Shorthorn Show, and interviewing junior exhibitors for spotlight articles in Shorthorn Country magazine that will be published continuously throughout the year. Another fun activity the other interns and I did was weekly blog posts. These blog posts included everything from beef recipes to our go-to stockshow jam playlist.

Another exciting opportunity about this internship that I loved was the opportunity to travel. The National Junior Shorthorn Show was in Tulsa, OK and the IGS-Summit Youth Leadership Congress was in Lincoln, NE. These trips were filled with hard work but also spontaneous trips to the Tulsa aquarium and Karaoke nights in Lincoln.

The most important thing about this internship is that it is amazingly fun. Everyone in the Shorthorn office is so kind and really wants the interns to learn and grow. The other interns and I would host spontaneous hula-hoop competitions and insist on fiesta potlucks. I would recommend this internship to anyone who has a strong connection or interest in the cattle industry and would like to understand the ins and outs of a breed association.

Mid Kansas Cooperative – Shaylee Arpin

Posted on by Courtney Boman

Most kids growing up in a large town or city have little access to knowledge about agriculture, farming or even something as simple as where their food comes from. My story would have been the same if my parents had not put my siblings and me into the Central Kansas District 4-H program. For twelve years, I dove head first into learning and soaking up as much information as I could. Because of my experiences with the 4-H program, I chose to major in agricultural communications and journalism with a minor in animal science and industry at Kansas State University.

Through the past 10 months, I have interned with Mid Kansas Cooperative (MKC). I joined MKC in January as part of the Collegiate Career Development Program. A program designed to turn interns into professionals and hopefully retain interns for full-time positions with partners of the program including MKC, Dow, WinField, CoBank and Land O’Lakes. Normal internships run from late May to early August.

To share my experiences, I built a list of the most valuable lessons I learned and my experiences learning them.

  1. Writing is THE most important skill you will learn.

Throughout my ACJ and journalism classes, I had professors tell me that even if I was not as interested in writing as I was in photography or graphic design, I would still have to know how to write. Boy, were they more right than I knew. For MKC, I wrote feature articles that were placed into the employee newsletter and online.

  1. Fake it until you make it or just ask.

I learned as I went further into my internship that if I did not know how to do something, I could sit and try to figure it out or I could just as easily ask! My boss was always willing to show me how to do something. One of my main responsibilities was to produce the employee newsletter. When I started I had trouble working with the formatting of the newsletter. My boss was more than willing to teach me how to do something or what I could do to change an element to make it better.

  1. You probably don’t know exactly what you’re good at.

Throughout an internship, you will get lots of experience in various areas. I found through my internship that I have a passion for graphic design. Before, I focused on working on my photography skills. Now, I have a passion for both and can work on both skills!

  1. You’re going to grow a lot.

My internship at MKC has made me grow both professionally but also personally. I think my biggest area of growth throughout the internship has been learning how to work in a professional setting and how to share my opinions or preferences in writing, photography, or design. MKC has helped me build my professional portfolio and taught me professional skills such as email writing and best interview practices.

My favorite part of interning with MKC has been growing my professional network. Over the summer, interns visited MKC locations, as well as the KDA and Wheat Innovation Center. Although most days were great, I found that there are times when there is a lot of work to be done but also times when there may only be one or two projects.

These experiences described above are going to carry over into my professional career because I gained both writing and graphic design skills as well as professional knowledge. I would recommend this internship to a person invested in advocating for the agriculture industry through writing and social media. To learn about and apply for an internship, students need to contact MKC at career fairs or the MKC Coordinator of Talent and Industry Partnerships, Hilary Worcester.

9 things you learn as a KWO intern – Amanda Sales

Posted on by Courtney Boman

After three years and three summer internships, here I am entering my final year as a K-State student. It’s a crazy thought! To sum up my most recent intern experience at the Kansas Water Office (KWO) in Topeka, I created a list of 9 takeaways from my time there.

9. You will inevitably have to explain what the Kansas Water Office is.

The KWO office gets myriad calls per day from people seeking the City of Topeka’s Water Office. Our receptionist is a pro at fielding these calls and directing the callers to the right place.

Example: Saying “I work for the Kansas Water Office” is usually followed by a load of questions. We’re the state’s water planning, policy coordination, and marketing entity. Imagine that we are an umbrella over the Kansas Department of Agriculture-Division of Water Resources and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s water bureau.

8. People will be people.

One of the most undervalued skills, in my opinion, is people relations. I learned a lot about people and personalities at KWO. In a realm where situations fringe around politics, you see many types of people.

7. Some people are really passionate about water.

I’m one of them now. I cringe when I see inefficient irrigation systems and I’m thankful for the conservation technology and research of this technology that KWO is funding to recharge the Ogallala Aquifer rather than deplete it. One major event over the summer was a field day for one of KWO’s three Water Technology Farms. The event showcased a combination of soil moisture sensors and mobile drip irrigation to help dictate when to start irrigating, when to stop, and most importantly, if it is even necessary at all. On the flip side of irrigating, it also frustrates me to see lawns being watered after a rainfall event. Save your water, people!

6. Working for the government is exactly what you would expect.

KWO interns are lucky to be paid, for one, as I know many state intern counterparts who are not. There’s also the importance of watching what you say and picking which political debates are safe to join. Usually it is better to stay neutral while in the public eye, because your actions represent the state government as a whole.

5. Being an intern for the state can lead to cool adventures.

KWO interns are allowed the opportunity to participate in the Governor’s Intern Program, which consists of six professional development sessions with fellow state interns. We covered the basic professional development topics like resumes, politic-related careers as a young professional, interviews, and how to act like an adult. We also participated in a lot of fun activities. For example, Wildlife, Parks and Tourism hosted us for a fun day at the Shawnee State Fishing Lake. The day included wingshooting, archery, kayaking and fishing. When was the last time you fished during a work day? KDA also led an agriculture-related tour to exhibit the facets of our state’s economic driver. In addition to these fun field days, we visited Cedar Crest and were presented networking opportunities.

4. There are still Kansans that believe water conservation is not their concern.

These people are quite the opposite of the water-passionate people discussed in number seven. It’s too bad there are still individuals unwilling to re-evaluate their water consumption because fear of risk outweighs the prospect of having water for future generations. Did you know that the Ogallala Aquifer, at current depletion rates, will be 70% depleted by 2064?

3. The optimal size for a Facebook graphic is a 470×470 pixel square.

This is the height/width size that appears on timelines. A major portion of my role at KWO included developing social media graphics, so I used this size standard to dictate my setup for creating the graphics we shared. In addition, I really enhanced my Adobe Illustrator skills when it came time to create engaging infographics that were worth sharing or retweeting. My advice for any students with interest in design—grab an easily portable notebook and every time you learn a new tool, technique or shortcut, write it down so you’ll easily know how to do it for future applications. I have one of these books and it helps immensely to speed up the design process.

2. Talking on the phone never gets easier.

No matter how much intern/job experience I have had, talking on the phone still gets me. There was one afternoon during the summer I was in charge of answering the phone while several staff members were in a meeting. Ironically, the first call was a person asking for the City of Topeka Water Office (see number nine). Soon after, a gentleman called asking for one of my co-workers. After accidentally hanging up on him twice, I finally figured out the correct way to transfer the call (#internfail). I suppose I am doing all right, though, if the hardest task of the summer was figuring out the phone system.

1. Real-life journalism isn’t like what they teach you in school.

Another part of my intern role included assisting with press releases. I came to discover that writing releases doesn’t always follow the clear cut rules taught at college. Call the source and ask for a quote? Writing something he/she would say and running it by them is perfectly acceptable. Write according to inverted pyramid style? Sometimes the person of most stature actually gets the first mention and quote block regardless. And like many places, gubernatorial entities follow their own style when it comes to writing. There were a few examples over the summer that in some way contradicted what professors taught me.

KWO was great to me and I now have the opportunity to extend my full-time summer internship into a part-time work-from-home job during the fall semester.

Overall, I recommend this internship to someone with an interest in politics, or someone looking to expand his or her knowledge of our state’s resources. Water is actually fascinating, and I encourage you to pay closer attention to it.

Ranch House Designs, Inc. – Melissa Grimmel

Posted on by chantelles

What do you do when you’re offered an internship with the company you’ve always dreamed of working for? You kindly accept, click “end” on the Skype call, and jump on your feet to clap and scream with excitement.

I found out about the Ranch House Designs, Inc. Summer Internship from their website at www.ranchhousedesigns.com. They also offer fall and spring internships, which consist of social media work, writing and helping with various tasks in the office.

After applying in December 2014, the CEO of RHD, Rachel Cutrer, contacted me to set up a Skype interview. She had noticed my freelance graphic design work through my Facebook, and instead created and offered me another internship to help with graphic design projects. This is a perfect example of the importance of being open minded during interviews – something even better can come out of them! From December to June, I completed my duties as a Design Associate from Kansas.

Once summer break began, I traveled to the RHD office located in Wharton, Texas, which is an hour southwest of Houston…depending on traffic. RHD is a full service marketing and communications agency that serves thousands of clients. Their roots were founded in the agricultural and livestock sector, and they have established a reputation as the leading livestock communications firm worldwide. Today, the agency represents clients from all sectors and industries.

To complete my tasks, I used the Adobe Creative Suite to design promotional materials including logos, print advertisements, business cards, and more for clients primarily in the livestock and agricultural industries. During weeks with heavy workflow, I also worked with clients in other industries.

Being a graphic designer, you learn to read and accept harsh feedback from clients. You get clients that love the logo just as much as you do, are extremely detailed in their feedback and are exceptionally nice. On the downside, you also get the clients that hate the logo you send, are extremely rude in their feedback and do not want to give you a second chance. I have grown thick skin through this internship. Harsh feedback does not hurt my feelings, but it motivates me to create something amazing in the next proof.

RHD has two full-time graphic designers in the office. Being able to work next to them, ask questions, and receive tips and tricks from them improved my work tremendously. They are some of the top designers in the industry, so it was truly an honor to work beside them and receive helpful advice.

RHD was an amazing place to work, with even more amazing coworkers. I did not witness any competition – every coworker is there to encourage and inspire each other. I would recommend this internship to someone who has an interest in graphic design, social media, and the livestock and agricultural industries.

At first, I was nervous to move to South Texas to say the least. At 8 a.m., I would open the front door and my glasses would instantly fog up from the sticky humidity, I had snakes and lizards as pets in my backyard, and I was 23 hours from home where I spent every summer in the past. Instead of dwelling on being far away, I took advantage of this and did a lot of traveling on the weekends. I traveled to Corpus Christi Beach, San Antonio to see the Alamo and River Walk, Houston to eat amazing Mexican food, went shopping at boutiques I usually shop at via online, and even toured V8 Ranch. I loved learning about Texas and visiting places I’ve never been to before.

It is critical to take advantage of the area you live in and to make the best of it. You may miss out on things you do every other summer, but the adventure is well worth it. Go outside of your comfort zone. Brush away the nerves, take a deep breath and just do it! “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

Kansas Department of Agriculture – Dandi Thomas

Posted on by chantelles

This summer I interned at the Kansas Department of Agriculture as a Communications Intern. I was located in Manhattan, Kansas in the Manhattan office, which allowed me to stay in Manhattan for the summer. I started my internship at the beginning of May and am still holding the position.

I learned about this internship through the agricultural communications and journalism listserv and applied through the Governor’s Internship Program at the beginning of May. I applied for the summer internship, but they also have fall and spring internships as well.

Through college I had the opportunity to have several jobs, each one more pertinent to my major than the next. When I applied for this internship, I felt like it could suit me extremely well and get me moving in the direction I wanted to with my career and resume, more so than the campus jobs I had had in the past.

My internship was directly under Megan Macy, the Director of PR for the agency. My duties included graphic design, website design, social media management and content creation, as well as other communication duties.

In the beginning, I was assigned various projects for other departments at KDA and was told to work with their department heads. This proved to be very challenging for me. Though updating the documents and creating their web pages was fairly easy, teaching and helping the other departments about what communications does was very difficult. I found myself having to explain things many times and had to redo several pages because the communication between the department and myself was clouded and unclear. This first few weeks of my internship taught me a very useful lesson about working with people outside of communications, and how to help them create their vision even if they don’t know how to communicate what they want at first. This lesson will forever stay in my mind, helping me be more dynamic in the workplace.

Through the rest of my internship, I was given a few projects but was given the reins to make those projects what I wanted them to be. My passion is graphic design, so most of my projects were focused around becoming a better designer and creating pieces that can be transformed into other multi-media designs.

Another great experience I was able to have with KDA was the gathering of marketing materials for other departments. I was able to set up appointments with animal breeders and shelters across the state, and travel with Megan to take photographs of animals and facilities. This was a good experience to help me strengthen my photography skills and work with others while shooting photos.

To this date, I have created and worked on over 50 projects for the Kansas Department of Agriculture and have enjoyed the experience thoroughly. The networking connections and experiences that I have been able to have through this internship will be exponentially important to my career.

I would recommend this internship to anyone interested in creating great portfolio pieces and gain experience in social media, designing, and marketing.

DuPont Pioneer- Marie Annexstad

Posted on by chantelles

This summer I worked for DuPont Pioneer as a Marketing Communications intern. My position was located in the Northern Business Unit office which is in Mankato, Minnesota and allowed me to live in my home state for the summer. I started in the middle of May and completed my internship at the end of August.

I found out about this job position through the Kansas State University Career Fair.

An internship’s outcome depends on what you make of the opportunities you have been presented with. When I began this position I had a set of tasks which I had to complete. While I was setting my goals along with my supervisor I asked if she would consider allowing me to take on a standing initiative in the business unit and create a marketing plan for it. She agreed and handed me the reins of the launch of GrowingPoint agronomy in the business unit.

Pioneer’s presence at trade shows provided opportunities to promote GrowingPoint using the already established channels. We ran a strong social media push beginning with our first trade show during the first week in August continuing through our last trade show that ended in the middle of September. Other methods of promotion included print, digital, and radio media. Creating this marketing plan was the favorite part of my internship.

In the beginning, I was immediately put to work on the design and launch of a brand new initiative. This initiative was the creation of digital sell sheets, for our business unit. I found this assignment to be the most difficult part of my internship as a lot of data had to be organized in Excel. I did, however, become proficient in using Excel more efficiently. Sell sheets have links to Pioneer.com product profile pages that display large amounts of agronomic information which assists sales representatives and growers to make informed decisions on the right products for their operations.

Next, it was my responsibility to choose an app which would be the best format to display the sell sheets in. Through much research I found the app Adobe Reader to be the most useful. I developed and presented a tutorial that would help guide sales representatives step-by-step through the process of how to use sell sheets effectively with customers throughout the business unit.

In addition, I was fortunate to have been given the job of organizing and planning trade shows. During the summer the Northern Business Unit attends four major summer trade shows: Minnesota Farm Fest, Wisconsin Farm Technology Days, Dakota Fest, and Big Iron. Planning of each show included opportunities to lead conference calls with different committees to make sure logistics were in order including graphics, giveaways, landscaping, promotional material, and workers. Each show hosted a different array of people, and required different tactics to market Pioneer® products. I traveled to and attended all of the trade shows and coordinated Pioneer’s presence at each show on-site.

I enjoyed being given the responsibility to design various graphics to market Pioneer’s new initiatives Pioneer GrowingPoint Agronomy and Encirca Services.

I also assisted with creating materials to help sales representatives with their responsibilities. These included corn and soy print sell sheets, forage print sell sheets, and handouts on various topics. Encirca Services was a new initiative for Pioneer this year, so I created a tutorial for sales representatives to aid them in understanding of the process of how to make an Encirca Note.

My experience with Pioneer as an intern this summer helped me to develop professionally. I was expected to work independently. As a result I learned to prioritize as I juggled many responsibilities. I learned to communicate efficiently and effectively with my superiors. The work environment was intense and professional. I learned to conduct myself in a similar manner. Overall, this was the best internship experience I have had thus far. I am confident that the after I graduate from college I will be pursuing a career in marketing and communications in a work environment similar to Pioneer.

I recommend this internship to anyone who loves design, event planning, and marketing. It was a great place for me to grow and develop professionally. To apply, visit the DuPont Pioneer Career Development Center.

American Paint Horse Association Internship- Nicole Woods

Posted on by chantelles

This summer I interned for the American Paint Horse Association as a Graphic Artist. My internship began in May and ended in August. The final week when applications were being accepted, my laptop crashed and I didn’t have all of the materials that APHA was requesting, however, I still applied.  I was first contacted by Art Vasquez, the Creative Director, and was asked if I’d like to intern with APHA. I accepted the invitation and two weeks later I was off to Fort Worth, TX.

            My first few weeks at APHA were kind of stressful but after I got acclimated from being completely on my own I really started to like my job. I loved that I had creative freedom and was given a clean slate each time I was handed a story that needed to be designed. The process for getting to design was, I would have to check a tray each day and then I would have to go where files were located. Within the file would be all of the necessary pictures and the story for me to import on to the pages. I used InDesign and Photoshop the most, however I was also taught how to do a little bit of web design for their new website.

Most of the designs I did for APHA were for three publications, their racing journal, the Paint Horse Connection and the Paint Horse Journal. These magazines reach about 60-70 thousand people worldwide. This was a great opportunity for me to get work published and seen around the world. Some of my other duties were to assist with internal projects that needed completed. A few designs I made were for the Youth World Show and even some for the Open Amateur World Show. I made flyers, banners and large checks that were given to winners in particular classes at the Youth World Show. I was also in charge of building client ads that went in all three publications.  Some of my favorite projects were building fresh client ads and also making four page spreads. Another thing I liked is I got to work in color, versus like in the newspaper industry everything is mostly in black and white.

While I was at APHA I was also involved with the re-constructing of the company. I was involved with giving my outside opinion about the company and also any changes that I would make if I were in the company. By going to meetings I got to see how different areas of the company worked together to make the company function and complete internal tasks.

What I learned most was how to be a team player. I also feel very blessed because I got to experience something that I have dreamed of since I was a child. Being involved in this company showed me what it would be like to work a full-time job and try and do things outside of work. I also learned that it is important to meet someone more than one time before you start to live with them, even if they are family. I am also glad that I was able to confirm that I have chosen the right career path for me. By working hard and persevering I feel that I was able to complete a task that I was told for a long time that I couldn’t do. That feeling is always rewarding.