Nick Clymer
Agronomy Sales Intern, Cargill Ag Supply Chain- North America
1. Brief Description:
I was an Agronomy Sales Intern with Cargill based out of Benson, Minnesota, working out of three office locations in the area. I worked hand in hand with a Crop Scout Intern and the three agronomists throughout the summer.Final Presentation-1kywu1w Clymer Final Report-21seybo
2. What about your understanding of yourself, your assumptions, or your view of the world changed/transformed while completing your internship?:
I was born and raised in Northwest Ohio so being 13 hours from home for 12 weeks was definitely a new experience that I had. I was living in a bed and breakfast which was really just living with grandparents since there weren’t many visitors throughout the summer. Luckily I averaged about 46 hours of work per week only working Monday through Friday so I didn’t have much free time during the week. I did have all day Saturday and Sunday to find stuff to do so that let me learn about myself some. With nothing much to do on the weekends and on weeknights I can now reflect back to that time to realize what makes me happy and interested in my free time. I spent a lot of the time reading and researching about agriculture and the agronomic aspects in the agricultural industry. I now know where my heart leans as to what section of agriculture I want to pursue.
Cargill is a global company who strives to feed the world. There was an intern forum in Minneapolis one week and one of the activities that we had to do was a mock simulation of some little village in a third world country and how they best managed their food situation so that go my the opportunity to see the difficulties of living in another country. That was really eye opening about how third world countries work and how many challenges small villages have regarding how they get their food, how the education system works, and what roles all the villagers have.
3. What events, interactions, relationships, or activities during your internship led to the change/transformation that you discussed in #2, and how did those affect you?:
The ways I changed understanding of myself and my assumptions happened with all the interactions I had with other interns, employees of Cargill, and the few interactions I had with farmers. I was able to learn about how I interact with people I have never met before but had the same similarities.
With being in agronomy I can better my abilities by attending different conferences. During this school year I have been to Grain Elevator and Processing Society expo in Kansas City, Planter University which my department (FABE) has put on at the Beck’s facility in London and the Ohio AgriBusiness Association industry conference in Dublin, OH. If I wasn’t so busy with school I would have attended the Conservation Tillage Conference in Ada, Ohio that Ohio State Extension is putting on. I also have decided to take a CCA (Certified Crop Advisor) class at Ohio State during the spring semester to better my abilities in agronomy.
Most of the students I met during my internship were from the schools of Kansas State, Iowa State, South Dakota State, and Minnesota. Even though we were all from different states, it seemed like we had a lot of similarities with one another- especially since we all attend universities with very good agricultural colleges. Most of the farmers were the same as the ones in Ohio. The way all those things affected me was that I have become a more comfortable person in those conversations and realized I have a lot of similarities with people. If you talk to people, they like to talk about themselves and their background very easily.
4. Why is this change/transformation significant or valuable for your life?
The minor change/transformation was led me to become more relaxed and comfortable in situations that used to be uncomfortable for me before. During the job searching process I am now specifically looking for jobs that will really interest me and I would be serious on accepting a job offer if I got one. This change has helped me during the interview process because I am confident in what I want to be doing with my life in the next 2-3 years and employers can tell that I am enthused about the opportunity that I am interviewing for.