Beef Cattle Research Intern – Austin W.

WEEK 9

This will be my last blog post for my internship so instead of telling you all exactly what we did this week I want to use this blog to tell you about all that I have learned. When I started this journey 2 months ago I was an agribusiness major with little to no cattle handling experience. I am now writing this post as an agribusiness/animal and dairy science double major with quite a bit of cattle handling experience under my belt. I have worked diligently for 2 months straight morning and night sorting, feeding, and bleeding cows. I will have to say, at first I never dreamed I would be able to accomplish all that I have but here I am. I was remembering when we first started I thought there is no way I will ever be able to sort these cows into their pens, yet I do it every day now. I can basically do everything now, from scraping pens to doing blood and nutritional analysis. It has been an experience of a lifetime and I would not trade it for the world. I have got to meet and work with some awesome people that have taught me so much. I have had one of the greatest bosses and friends, Rachel Coley, who made this all possible for me and taught me everything I know. This internship helped me realize that you should do what you love and do it well. You only get one life so you need to make the most of it. I used to think I was so ready to graduate and adding years onto my schooling was never something I wanted, at first, but then I knew if I wanted to be successful, doing something I love, then I needed to change my major, so I did. I am now looking forward to taking animal reproduction and beef cattle production, classes that interest me and do not bore me. I am now even considering graduate school after graduation to get my masters in animal and dairy science. This internship has opened my eyes to so many wonderful opportunities and has really given me a sense of belonging.

South Farm Sunrise