Self Introduction: Cassidy, 2015 PSU Student Teacher

Hi everybody! I’m Cassidy and I am super excited for our upcoming adventure to South Korea this coming summer!

I wanted to go on this trip for a couple of reasons. One of those is because I think having global experience is extremely important. We live in a world where our nation depends on all of the others and vice-versa. This is especially important in agriculture. It’s one thing to just study and learn about other people and countries. It’s another to actually go and experience those cultures. You can learn so much more than you would ever think. There’s customs and unique aspects that you would never pick up from just reading about a country.

The other reason I want to go on this trip is because of the agriculture education aspect of it. I had not known that Korea had an agriculture program, let alone one as strong as theirs is, before hearing about this trip. It’ll be really interesting to see how their program works and the similarities and differences between theirs and ones in the US. Plus, everything we learn will be material I can bring back and eventually use in my own classroom. Maybe there will be other teaching methodologies that they use that I can use. Also, I can teach my kids about agriculture in other countries. Hopefully, I’ll be able to show them by example that learning about global agriculture is important. 

I think the way the trip is set up will be really interesting, in a good way. Since we have both current and pre-service teachers from different states, we'll be able to draw off of everyone's range of knowledge and experience. We will all be able to bring something different to the table and hopefully enrich each other's experiences.

A toucan I met in Costa Rica

A little bit about me… I am a junior in Agriculture Education and will be student teaching in Spring 2015. My minors are in International Agriculture and Agribusiness Management. At school, I'm involved with Teach Ag Society, Ag Student Council, NAMA, and Delta Theta Sigma. Currently, I live in a small town in Lancaster County, PA with my parents (I’m an only child). This will be my second time traveling out of the country. This past summer, I spent a month in Costa Rica (with Melanie!) learning about agriculture, Spanish, and the local culture. We stayed with a family in the same town the entire time, so it felt like we were actually living there. Everyone kind of just acted like we were from Costa Rica. It was rare that they treated us like foreigners. I’m curious how that dynamic will be in Korea, since we’ll be traveling and touring more.

Anyway, June needs to get here faster!