A Career in Agriculture...?

For the month of March, we were honored to host Dr. Katie McKee from Virginia Tech as she taught her class, Educational Programs in Agriculture for Developing Countries. This course (with an impressively long name, no less) encompasses many aspects of implementing agricultural programs into international communities. I am a history major with the hope of attending law school, thus it is safe to say that I was completely uneducated in the field of agriculture. Dr. McKee, being the enthusiastic teacher she is, offered help and careful guidance throughout the month. Beginning with defining agriculture and concluding with a project involving the management and creation of our own educational program, I have grown to understand the importance of agriculture as a global catalyst.
In a very unexpected turn of events, the teachings of Dr. McKee have helped define a career path I am interested in pursuing. A very important part of the coursework involved the understanding of indigenous cultures. In short, indigenous people are the local people of a country and it is important to analyze and value their way of life to implement a successful education program. I have always been extremely interested in the inner workings of different cultures and I have always hoped to attain a job that encompasses those values (and involves a lot of traveling!). Who would have though that agriculture would present so many opportunities in international relations? I certainly did not.
To be honest, I have always had an interest in respecting the workingman, and upholding and protecting the sanctity of their knowledge. I believe that blue-collar workers are very much like indigenous people of foreign countries in that they have their own expertise and methodology, which should always be taken into consideration and respected when trying to implement assistance and advancement. I wanted to explore the application of fighting for and championing the blue-collar man in a realistic job setting (and also one that was very relevant to me as I would like to be an attorney). It wasn’t until the introduction of respecting farmer’s rights and ethics in class, that I believed there to be another usage of my curiosity. However, this time it is in a field of study that is completely different from anything I have ever been exposed to before- agriculture.
Overall, I am surprised by how much I have learned and grown from a course for which we only attended 8 class periods. It’s funny how life has a tendency to give you a push in a direction when you are least expecting it. So, in conclusion: agriculture is for everyone!