Rejoining the World of Writing

As a high school agriculture teacher, it must be said that I do not have a lot of free time on my hands, for, well, much of anything. However, as I reflect upon these last three years- and I could even include my 4 years of college - I realized one huge part of my life was missing. Writing. I wrote all through high school for school assignments, of course, but also for our local paper. I even dabbled in writing for my own personal gratification, using poetry as an emotional outlet.  I really, truly, enjoyed the writing process. The way my thoughts were so gracefully conveyed onto paper, a skill I envy of those who speak so eloquently in everyday life. The way a well written essay, article or paper felt as it came to life on the screen- or most often, the notebook paper- in front of me was liberating. The way I felt when people that had read my work, challenged my thoughts, agreed with my thoughts, or even how they found that my writing had some how impacted their life and their viewpoints on the given topic was so exhilarating.

Looking back, its easy to see why I chose Agricultural Communications- News Editorial, as my major in college at the University of Illinois in 2005. So, you ask, how did Ibecome an agriculture educator instead? After a few small internships during my first year and a half of college, I found myself struggling to see a future under the title of an Agricultural Communicator. Where would I work? Newspapers were certainly changing as the internet evolved, making journalism very competitive. What were my other options? Every option I explored did not seem to hold my interest or much promise of a career...or so I thought.

After talking with friends of mine in a similar major, agricultural education, I realized that not only could I utilize my undying passion for communicating about agriculture, but I could use this passion towards educating the youth of the world. This sounded amazing! And for the most part, it has truly turned out to be just that. Despite the politics in education and schools, let alone small communities, I have found this career to be very enjoyable and I am truly excited to go to work each day.

However, as I ponder my future, and the career I've chosen for myself today, I do often feel as though something is missing. After reading a blog, that was tweeted by a former editor, and friend of mine, I found what was missing. Writing. I'd lost track of my writing. My daily jottings from high school have turned to few and far between moments, where I sit and actually write letters to my grandfather, who refuses to by in to the internet or computers (but loves the "magic machine" I often carry with me), or even just my annual Christmas/Holiday update.  (This year, I wrote mine on November 30 and have yet to mail them out...it will be more like a Valentine's letter when they are received). I just started using Twitter this fall, after a professional development workshop taught me that there was MUCH more to social networking for educators that just Ashton Kutcher's pointless tweets, which was my only perception. I can honestly say that one of the first things I do when I wake up is look at Twitter to see what is happening in the world of agriculture, but more importantly, just the world. I learn more from Twitter than I do watching some morning news shows most days! Twitter has led me to connect with others who have similar passions, which, honestly, led me to this blog.

Today, I was introduced to Agriculture Proud via Twitter, and after researching the blogger, I realized I needed to be apart of the blogging scene. For the last 4 years, I've been following blogs on news, sports and agriculture, but never made the time to truly set a blog. I'm happy to say that starting today, I'm joining this world, and hoping that my words will inspire, challenge, and communicate the importance of agriculture to those that read it. My selfish hope, is that I too, will be challenged by readers and their perspectives.