Sharing Agriculture One Post at a Time

It's officially fall, which brings pumpkin spice everything, football and cold nights. It also brings the start of a new academic year and the Animal Agriculture Alliance's College Aggies Online scholarship competition!

As a senior in college, my life is starting to get real very fast, but it also leaves much room for me to hone in on my goals and purposes. I know agriculture holds a special place in my heart -- I fell in love with it the first time I learned how to halter a calf -- and I know social media is the ultimate dream job I've been working toward. Those two aspects come together perfectly for me within this competition, but it's a lot more than that, too.

Have you ever struggled to share your story, or find yourself wishing you could tell the world how wonderful something is? This program helps you shout at the top of your lungs how much you believe in the future of the agriculture industry, and for me, it creates inspiration and guidance for the type of content that will catch the attention of individuals scrolling through endless news feeds.

Truthfully, last year's competition was hit and miss for me, and quite frankly, this year is off to a rocky start too (traveling across an ocean kind of does that to a person!) However, being a CAO participant is about more than always sticking to the schedule or following the assignments. In my opinion, it is a way to exercise your creativity and share your passions at the same time; sometimes this doesn't always happen in a perfect timeframe. The reality might be that you don't post on social media every day, or maybe even once a week, but you want to utilize the tools out there that can help share your story. This competition helps students seek new audiences, find their voice and ultimately show how awesome the agriculture industry is.

I know it's really easy to get lost in the large scope of things; worrying about how you can manage your personal life, academic obligations, finances, social events, health and preparing for life after college. The truth of the matter is you have to focus on one thing at a time. In this situation, I am choosing to focus on sharing the story of agriculture one post at a time, one adventure at a time, because sharing one small idea can spark huge curiosity for someone else.

I am taking the challenge of a nine-week competition because I want to grow my skills, my network and my drive to engage with consumers.

Follow along with me to share the amazing world of agriculture one post at a time by searching for the hashtag "CAO18" across all platforms. Now is the time to join the conversation!