Small Town Girl

Well, I have officially started my blog! I am actually pretty nervous about this one. I have these thoughts running through my head that I am anxious, excited and scared all in one about starting my blogging experience, but it's going to be fun! Those that know me could tell you I tend to worry about the little things in life, so I am sure my friends could tell you that I am going to be nervous at first, but in the end, I will become addicted to it and hopefully continue to entertain folks! But, before I begin blogging for the Commodity Classic, I feel it is best to share a little bit more about me, that way you can understand where I come from!

If you have ever heard of the song called "Small Town Girl" by Kellie Pickler, that could pretty much sum up quite a bit about me! It is a great song and I recommend at least searching for the lyrics if you have not heard it!

I truly am a small town girl. Grew up outside a town called Danvers in central Illinois, town population just a little over maybe 1200 people now? I really couldn't tell you how many. Not too many people have heard of it, and I can understand why. We don't have a single stop light or flashing light, just a couple stop signs. If you google Danvers, Illinois you hardly will find anything! In our town there is a fast stop, bank, laundry mat, town hardware store, historical society, elevator, 2 bars, and within the last couple of years, added on an ice cream parlor/pizza shop and a tanning/video salon! Oh and of course a fire station and a couple small churches! Busy little town I tell ya! But it holds a lot of history. I loved going into the old hardware store or the ice cream/pizza shop and looking at vintage photos!

I grew up outside town on a beautiful farm my great grandfather lived on until I was around 8 and my family moved just a couple miles south to another farm. My father has been farming, for the longest time! He grew up on a farm, so it only made sense for him to continue farming! So he now has taken over the "family business" and is 1 out of the 6 kids that is still involved in agriculture. My dad is one of my biggest role models, next to my mom. Both of my parents are passionate about agriculture. I really enjoy seeing my dads eyes light up every time I begin to talk about anything in the agriculture industry. Mom has always been my biggest fan when it came to the showing. Don't get me wrong, dad is too. Both of them have given my 2 sisters and I a lot to be thankful for. We have been privileged to show a variety of livestock in our years in 4H. Horses and pigs have been the driving point of my 4H career. My sisters somehow became interested in sheep and pygmy goats... don't know how that happened! But got to love them!

Growing up I was active in 4H all 11 years and then became very involved in the FFA in high school. Within the FFA, I knew that was my place to be. I started taking advantage of becoming involved; held multiple offices in the FFA, participated in numerous career development events and attended who knows how many conferences and workshops! I learned a lot about goal setting in the FFA as well and with that, I worked hard to achieve my goals. The most rewarding goal I set in the FFA was to become a State FFA Officer. June 2006, that goal was achieved when I was named the State FFA Secretary. That year as a state officer is another blog post itself! It was unbelievable. Words cannot describe that year. It is a year I never will forget and one I will always cherish.

Following my year in office, I enrolled in the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Attending the U of I had been a dream since the 8th grade for me. That first year I started a new journey and began taking on leadership roles within many organizations on campus and continue to set new goals to work towards. The College of Agricultural Consumer Environmental Sciences has broadened my view of agriculture in so many ways, that I never imagined. The College of ACES has something for everyone and everything in agriculture.

That first year flew by and summer came. I interned with Illinois Corn Growers Association and Corn Marketing Board and had a wonderful summer learning more about those two organizations. I will have to share some of my work I conducted in another blog post later, but it was a summer full of fun and exciting things. Some of which include: creating YouTube videos promoting the corn and ethanol industry, interviewing Orion Samuelson and Max Armstrong at WGN Radio, and organizing and leading a campaign targeting the rise in food prices and its affect on the corn industry.

Once summer was over, I arrived back on campus and moved in to my sorority house, Alpha Gamma Delta. The girls here are great and I must say, it is always entertaining explaining what a farm is or talking about my livestock to girls from the city of Chicago who always give me a good laugh when I have to explain some of the things us "farm girls" have to do!

This last fall, I interviewed with Monsanto for the field sales internship and was extremely excited to accept an offer this winter to be located in Ames, Iowa for the summer! I was even more thrilled and honored when chosen to be blogging for them at the 2009 Commodity Classic. I tell ya, this year has been incredible and a dream come true, and the best is yet to come!

So I do apologize, for this long first blog, but I felt it was acceptable to give a background of who I am, where I come from and what I have been up to! From now on, I'll be sure to keep it short and sweet!

In less than a week, I'll be down in Grapevine, Texas and giving you the backstage pass to this conference. I'll be sure to add a lot of pictures, videos and possibly some audio to my blog and hope to keep you all entertained!

So put on your boots and spurs and get ready to hop into the saddle as I give you a ride into Megan's Classic Chronicle!