Intern Spotlight: Bauer interns with American Angus Association

Through my internship, I traveled to Maryland, South Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Montana. In the meantime, I lived in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Each trip was dedicated to something different. When I traveled to Maryland and back to Ohio the purpose was to attend regional Angus shows. My duties there was to keep an official book of all the placings and champions from each show. I also calculated the points to find the winners of the Herdsman and Premier Exhibitor.

I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina to attend the June Board meeting for the American Angus Association. This was one of my favorite trips as I got to act as a tour guide for all the spouses and children of the board members and employees. So while they sat in meetings all day I got to explore Charleston with the spouses and children. I took headcount on all the busses and was there to give updates on the plan for the day and ask any questions they might have and I executed the plan that was already in place every day.

Probably the biggest event of my summer was the National Junior Angus Show held in Madison, Wisconsin. I prepared all summer by organizing contest boxes, wrote Quiz Bowl tests and I made the entire Skill-A-Thon contest from scratch. At this show we had over 1,200 head of cattle come to Madison. I was in Wisconsin from July 2nd – 15th. There were numerous things I did in those two weeks but the main thing I did was facilitate the almost 20 contests that we have outside of the show ring. My job was to make sure the contest rooms were set-up, I prepared my judges on how to use the scoresheets and the rules of the contest. I had to know the rules of each contest like the back of my hand because I was the contact person for parents, exhibitors, and judges who may have questions about the contests.

Last but not least I ended the summer with a trip to Billings, Montana for the annual LEAD conference. This was a conference for junior members to attend to learn from industry professionals and view different Angus facilities. At this event, we attended a few different bull testing facilities and ranches. I had never been this far west and I can say that Montana is truly breathtaking. I see why they call it the Big Sky state!

Overall, I truly loved my experience at the American Angus Association and can say that my time there made me a better professional and prepared me for my future career in so many ways.