August 14, 2018
Looking Forward to the Future as Extension Professionals
First off, what a humbling opportunity it is to be able to contribute to the Tuesday Letter in Dr. Hadley’s absence. I find that seemingly every day as a member of the KSRE team, I come across more and more of these exciting opportunities. In my mind, that is one of the most compelling aspects of working for K-State Research and Extension. Seasoned veterans and new Extension professionals alike are able to go to work every day with a chance to either make a direct impact to an Ag producer, 4-Her, or community member. We have a great network of professionals to learn from and stand beside when facing daunting tasks in any of our program areas. Furthermore, as a “beginner” I have the same opportunity as all of you before me started with, and still have: I get to truly mold my position into what I aspire to make it, revolving around the needs of my district and my own strengths. The fact that we all have varying passions and skillsets makes each office across the state valuable and unique.
As I look forward to my professional career, I see true growth in being a part of KSRE. While I mentioned that we each have abilities and our interests are peaked in certain areas of any given field, it is demanded of us to be so much more than a “one trick pony.” In order to better serve our communities, it is our responsibility to go out and better ourselves in subject areas that may not be our strengths, but are necessary to our local and statewide clientele. With seemingly endless professional development opportunities, I find myself on a steep learning curve, picking up new tools and information along the way to bring back and implement in conversations with local producers. To give a brief example, I grew up in the Flint Hills, where agricultural land is greater than seventy percent pasture. In the Post Rock District, agricultural land is the exact opposite, greater than seventy percent crop ground. This has pushed me to learn not only through professional development opportunities, but also largely from the people I work so closely with on a day to day basis. It all goes back to one of my favorite mantras, “There is no learning in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the learning zone.”
Lastly, I’d be absolutely remiss if I did not say that one of the things I look forward to in this career is working alongside all of you. From in depth, problem solving conversations with specialists and quick advice from the Livestock PFT members, to watching the professionalism that agents in other fields carry, I am excited to continue building these working relationships with the amass of talent we have assembled on our team. I think I speak for all of us “beginners” when I say there is always something to learn in our job and we are excited to be a part of building continued success with K-State Research and Extension.
I hope each of you have an enjoyable and impactful week in your respective fields and I look forward to working alongside you in the future.