Mastering the Art of Being Me
From a young age, I have been considered weird. When the rest of the girls in my kindergarten class were having tea parties in their princess dresses, I was out catching bullfrogs in my overalls. I had two older sisters who tried their hardest to dress me up and make me act “normal” but despite their efforts, a dress was always my last pick. Throughout childhood, I was happy to collect bird’s nests and turtle shells while my peers collected dolls, I was happy to be me.
As middle school came, I began to realize that I was different than the rest of the world, and in middle school, different is bad. I tried my hardest to fit in and be happy with who everyone wanted me to be, but I still felt left out and even worse about who I was. Luckily in high school I found the FFA and a group of people who didn’t mind my lack of style and my love of mud! In FFA I was free to be me and I even began to grow and learn more about the person I am. FFA was my safe place, but once I left those ag classrooms, I again would begin to wish I was like all the other girls. High school, although filled with great memories, was a hard time for me, and a place I wish I could make more comfortable for the students who spend their days trying to fit in.
After high school came a time of tremendous growth as I served Pennsylvania as the State FFA Secretary. This past year allowed me to do what I love (and people even thought I was cool for it!) In my time as a state officer I was finally able to figure out who I was and begin to embrace it, I began to master the art of being me.
And then there’s college! Penn State is this magical place filled with diversity and acceptance, you can be literally whoever you want, and no one will care. I even saw a student in full out knight armor walking down a busy street last week and not a single person gave a second glance. College is the place where no matter who you are, you fit in. I love college. I have finally found the place where I can wear what I want, do what I want, and be who I want, and have confidence in it! So what do I want to do? Who do I want to be?
I want to be a life changer, a friend to those in need, a hugger, a comforter, a mentor, and whatever my students need. My goal is to be an Agricultural Educator. My goal is to change the world, one student at a time. My goal is to teach my students to embrace their differences. My goal is to open my students’ eyes to the amazing world we live in. My goal is to hug a student as they cry, and tell them it’s all going to be okay. My goal is to have a classroom that feels like a home. My goal is to train scientists, politicians, businessmen, pastors, farmers, and all sorts of other leaders. My goal is to be the person who gives students hope. My goal is to be the person that I needed, and the person that I got.
These goals have led me to Penn State as I plan to major in Agricultural and Extension Education with minors in International Agriculture and Leadership Development, and what better way to dive into my involvement than by serving as the Global Teach Ag! Intern for the College of Ag?! As Global Teach Ag! Intern my mission is to assist educators across the state and country in developing programs that will create globally competent students. I am super excited to see where this internship will take me and I’m confident that it will only push me more towards mastering the art of being me!
To contact me feel free to follow me on twitter, @vherrrrrrr, or email me at vzh5064@psu.edu!
To learn more about the PSU Global Teach Ag!: http://aese.psu.edu/teachag/global/
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