Self Introduction: Amanda, 2015 PSU Student Teacher

Hi Everyone!

I’m Amanda, and this is my second semester of my Master’s student in Ag & Extension Education program at Penn State, and I will be student teaching in Spring 2015.

This semester is really exciting for me because the first time I will travel out of the continental US is this spring break to Trinidad for another course trip. After that trip, I have our month-long educational adventure in South Korea to prepare for!

I’m really looking forward to our trip so I can not only learn about agriculture and agricultural education in South Korea, but since our course is a mix of pre-service and in-service teachers and teacher educators from several different states I am also excited to get to meet you all and learn about your different experiences! Traveling abroad for the first time, and especially for a month, is both exciting and terrifying to me, but I can’t wait to go on this adventure with everyone.

A lover of animals, especially draft horses, I am originally from Philadelphia, where I went to W.B. Saul High School of Agricultural Sciences. At Saul I focused on livestock production, helping to take care of our school’s beef cattle and sheep, and was very active in my chapter’s livestock judging and showing teams. My chapter is very important to me, and I still frequently go back to help with lambing and calving seasons, help my ag teacher get the students and their animals ready for Farm Show and get the judging teams ready for our PA FFA State Convention each June. I cannot wait until I’m an adviser and have my own students to prepare; my ag teacher says she’s looking forward to the competition.

While this guy was not quite as big as the draft horses I love, meeting this Thoroughbred stallion was just one of the cool opportunities I had while living in Lexington, KY this summer interning with the NAAE. There are no limits to where the blue jacket can take you!

Agricultural education has given me the chance to get out of my city and explore new places, without losing the roots I have planted there. I went out of state for my undergrad, earning my Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Animal Science and Agricultural Science Education this past May from Cornell University. While at Cornell, I was involved in Block & Bridle, CFFA, and Alpha Zeta, and now that I’m back home at Penn State I’m involved in CFFA and Teach Ag! Society. Taking this course and traveling for a month to South Korea (still terrifying and exciting), is just one of the many doors I would have never imagined the blue jacket opening for me. And I can’t wait to see what other adventures await.

Can’t wait to meet everyone and explore Korea together!

Amanda