When asked about your choice of major, how do you explain the importance of agriculture? Jason: When I was speaking to all of the freshman in CAFES, I was asking things like, “who here has an ag background?” I wanted everyone to see that not everyone is an “aggie,” but also for those who are “aggies,” some people don’t know about agriculture. Much fewer people than I thought actually come from an agriculture background. That is one thing I realize now, in Future Farmers of America (FFA) we really promote getting rid of ag illiteracy. Well if these people aren’t coming from an agriculture background, into a major to learn about agriculture, that is combating it pretty well. I guess that is what I’ll say to people. A reason to be an agriculture major is you can do anything. With an Agricultural Business degree, you can do anything from run a farm, to be the CEO of Apple. Tatiana: For me, agriculture is our bread and butter; it is our food, fiber and natural resources. I want to be an advocate for the industry. Going back to the farm and producing or teaching in the classroom are wonderful professions. However, I really enjoy being the voice and serving in a role speaking for others. I think that is a responsibility that should not be taken lightly and I am humbled by it because you are a representative of “x” amount of people. The reason I chose my major and why agriculture is so important, is because it is essential to life and is an amazing industry with amazing people; I think that their story should be shared. Can you describe a major goal you have this year in student government? Jason: It is all going to come out of that survey I got sent out. That was the biggest thing, I talked about it a lot. It is all in this idea, just like how FFA promotes servant leadership and serving
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others. What is it the students want? What issues they thought were on campus, what issues they thought were arising, so what is it that all the students want? And it’s the ones who actually let their voices be heard, that is why it is called the “Let Your Voice be Heard Survey.” If students support something on there, then we are going to advocate for it. So the goals for the year come from that survey. Getting that survey out has been the biggest goal so far, for my branch anyway. Tatiana: Absolutely! Previously, I served as a CAFES representative for two years, and during that time I really found my voice as a representative. My goal this year is to help the representatives, there are 24 of them, find their voices. A lot of them are new, 20 out of the 24 have never served on the board of directors. I am very excited to help the 24 students as a whole really find their voice and represent their constituents, whether that be through confidence in public speaking, or knowing how to make a proper motion. AgCircle compliments and appreciates the leadership Tatiana and Jason provide to our entire university. Their roles are evidence of leadership in action and we are proud to have them as agriculture majors.