Discovery of the Ag Ed World

This is going to be a quick "Get to Know Stacia" post to give everyone a bit of my background!

DelVal Graduation

Unlike some people who have a passion for Agricultural Education, I didn't have the opportunity to enjoy agriculture classes in my high school. The closest class I had to agriculture was Anatomy and Physiology (Of humans... Not even animals!). So, I fell in love with agriculture and education through other experiences.

Animals were a passion of mine even before the farm I currently live on became a part of my life. While other young girls may have liked watching Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, or Sleeping Beauty, my favorites included The Land Before Time, The Lion King, and Homeward Bound (I believe having animals in the movie was my only criteria!) just to name a select few. At a young age I decided being a veterinarian (for large animals predominantly) was something to pursue because automatically if you love animals that's what you do, right? 

My father shares my passion for agriculture and while I was in elementary school he and my mom thought raising my sisters and I on a farm would be great for us (and they would enjoy it too!). This is when it all started. Although I had no formal agriculture education, learning about livestock, crops, and wildlife became a part of me while living on my family farm. As much as I loved learning about the farm life I had just been thrown into, I loved teaching it to others. This included neighbors and even some family members who were curious about what animals we had and what they produced. Naturally, I usually ended up being the "unofficial" tour guide for our farm when we had visitors. It was evident to me that I wanted to be involved with agriculture for the rest of my life.. But I would just have to figure out how!

My love for animals, especially livestock, eventually led me to Delaware Valley College (University as of this April!) where I earned my Bachelor's of Science degree in 3 1/2 years. I studied Livestock Science and Management with the intention of going off to veterinary school right after. While at DelVal, I started doubting if being a vet was really what was best for me. I think I could've done it, but I knew there was something that would be an even better fit out there for me.

I had met a few friends at DelVal who would mention their high school agriculture programs, and I was like, "Whoa, you took animal science.. and horticulture.. and agriculture mechanics... in high school?! Your school must be pretty awesome!" I quickly realized how sheltered I must seem to some people! I really had no clue that agriculture was taught at the high school level! I had enough of these conversations that one day in my junior year of college I had an epiphany, I'm totally going to teach agriculture!

PSU Grad Student!

Obviously, this is how I ended up at the one and only Penn State. I had a choice: a) Change my major and spend extra time at DelVal or b) I could graduate a semester early then jump right into a Master's degree... Well now here I am, striving for a Master's of Education degree in Agricultural and Extension Education at PSU. I have been blessed with more than I ever imagined while continuing my education. Because of my studies at PSU I was able to travel to Republic of Korea for a month long trip to learn about school-based agriculture education there. I even had the chance to teach lessons (with some assistance) to Korean high school students! I also had the opportunity to travel to Nicaragua to learn about their agriculture - including coffee, bananas, cocoa, dairy, and other plant and livestock production! I have traveled more in my year at Penn State than I ever have before!

The main reason I started this blog is to document how I progress in my Ag Ed journey over the next year. Here on out will be major preparation for the main event - student teaching in the Spring 2016! I can't even put my excitement into words for student teaching. I will be student teaching at Wellsboro Area High School with the Agricultural Educator, Mrs. Berndtson. My visits to Wellsboro so far have been nothing short of fantastical (if that's not a real word, it is now)! Wellsboro is a very small town (to me anyway) up near the New York border in Tioga County. Up until the student teaching selection processes, I had never even been to that part of PA. Yeah, I've been to Korea and Nicaragua, but not Northern PA about 3 hours from me!

Pictures from an amazing Wellsboro visit! Students planting, wrapping horse legs, and mini field trips all in one day! Never a dull moment in agricultural education!

The anticipation of my student teaching is building up more and more every day. Not only am I eager to student teach at such a beautiful school, in a beautiful community, with awesome students, and an awesome teacher, but I am stoked to share every moment of it with all of you through this blog!