By: Karli Lump
De Graff, Ohio
Agricultural Communications
Sophomore
Last summer, I had the honor of interning for Trupointe Cooperative in their Marketing Services department in Wapakoneta, Ohio. I had such a great experience working with customers as well as fellow employees and I gained knowledge that is not found in the classroom, but can only be gained in the real world.
My first day, I sat down with my manager and she proceeded to explain some of the jobs I would be in charge of this summer. I was terrified. Not only did it consist of working in programs I had no experience in, but I also had to create weekly plot updates that would be sent out to the employees. I left that day thinking there was no way I was qualified for this internship. I had only just completed my freshman year of college!
Boy, was I wrong. After several weeks I got the hang of things. I was able to work in programs such as Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, as well as dabbling in web and video design! I also spent time out of the office and in the fields taking pictures of the progression of growth in corn and soybeans and writing about the differences based on different starter and foliars that were applied.
Karli, far left, and coworkers.
Looking back on the months spent with Trupointe, I feel blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with such great people and learn the things that I did. I learned so much about the ag marketing industry and how important our job is as ag communicators to make sure we are sending the right message. It is our responsibility to gain knowledge in agriculture and share it with others in a manner that not only makes sense, but that will also spark interest. Working with Trupointe has given me the experience and knowledge to better communicate with men and women about agriculture and I am thankful for the opportunity I had with them.
Thank you Karli for sharing your internship experience with us!