Jenna Moser's (@JennaLeeMoser) adventures in Mexico!

Jenna Moser
2015 Student Teacher

Jenna Moser (@JennaLeeMoser), a 2015 student teacher, has used her professional networking to her benefit for her spring break! Jenna traveled to Guanajuato, Mexico with her online class that she heard about through Pennsylvania’s former Secretary of Agriculture and former member of the House of Representatives, Sam Hayes! She has known Sam since she was seven years old, seeing him at fairs and other Ag events, Sam knew Jenna would be the perfect addition to the Mexico trip! She traveled with students from Penn State Lehigh, Altoona, and Harrisburg commonwealth campuses that were all enrolled in the online Civic Engagement course.

One of the greenhouses that
they visited!

When they all got to Mexico, they were able to do some awesome things! They traveled to several museums where they learned about the cultural history, saw beautiful cathedrals, attended an outdoor rodeo, learned about agave (the plant that is used to produce a juice that is then fermented to make tequila), see a 32 acre strawberry farm, visited the Green Giant vegetable processing plant and so much more!

The cultural aspect of Mexico spiked Jenna’s interest as well. She said, “I was able to enjoy the warmth of the sun and experience the present culture and sense of community.  In the evenings there were always people on the streets watching movies on a huge screen, playing music using string instruments, and simply living in the moment and taking time to enjoy each other’s company.” It is the small things in life that really count!

The outdoor rodeo.

Jenna’s greatest take away from the trip was the importance of the partnership between the United States and Mexico. Jenna was also truly influenced by the migrant workers. She states, “ I firmly believe that American agriculture would not be as successful as it is today without the aid of migrant workers. “ She truly appreciated all that Mexico has done for the United States and vice versa! Sam Hayes stated it well. He says “Our two countries are joined at the hip whether we like it or not, so we might as well like it.”

Strawberries that were grown in Mexico!

Since Jenna has been back, she has brought her new learned experiences back to the United States. It has helped her realize how important and how much we rely on the global market. For one example, she learned how much we rely on Mexico for strawberries during the winter months. Jenna is so excited to start teaching her students about the global market. "Agriculture Education and the FFA leadership program emphasize on the experiential learning component, and if I can use my experiences to teach my students about our vast industry of agriculture, than I am living out the FFA motto: “Learning to Do; Doing to Learn; Earning to Live; Living to Serve.”

To learn more about starting on the path to having a career that makes a positive impact on the lives of students across the globe by becoming an agricultural educator, please contact the agricultural teacher education program at teachag@psu.edu. Follow us on Twitter at TeachAgPSU, on Facebook, or on our blog!

Olivia Murphy-SweetStudent Blogger
Teach Ag! Avenger
Twitter Handle @OSweetMurph
2016 Agricultural Education Student Teacher