This past summer, following my junior year at K-State, I worked at the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA) as a communications intern in Manhattan, Kansas.
KDA is a state agency that strives to serve farmers, ranchers, and agribusinesses through its programs and divisions. Being on the communications team gave me the opportunity to develop my skills and expand my knowledge by working on a variety of projects.
When I started my internship, I had experience using the Adobe Creative Suite, some knowledge of how to write press releases, and no experience managing social media accounts for anyone but myself. Now that I have spent four months working for KDA, I am very comfortable using Adobe, can easily put together a press release, and I am still responsible for creating social media content.
The thing I respected most about being an intern is that from day one, my boss put trust in me and handed me responsibilities, including social media. While this definitely made me nervous, it forced me out of my comfort zone and became one of the most rewarding parts of my job. There’s nothing that beats the feeling of seeing your work shared because only you know the time and energy that went into creating it.
In addition to creating social media content, I also wrote press releases and designed handouts to be used by various programs. Like social media, these tasks allowed me to gain a lot of experience and helped me develop my skills even further.
Being an intern at KDA has been a great experience and I have learned so much, not only about agriculture and communicating, but also about myself. I’ve learned to trust in myself and my abilities, and I’ve learned that I am capable. Sure, I made mistakes, but I was able to learn from them, and that’s what’s important.
If you’re interested in working in a fun environment with people who are passionate about agriculture and will push you out of your comfort zone to help you become a better communicator, then you should consider applying to be an intern at KDA. Internships are available year round and KDA is a great place to work during both the summer and the school year as it is conveniently located close to campus.
The internship is offered through the Governor’s Office Internship Program, which you can learn more about here.
K-State AgCom 550 