January 2018 Student of the Month: Kaitlin Liszka (@KaitlinLiszka)

Each month we like to highlight students that have gone above and beyond in the agriculture education program at PSU! We are proud to announce that Kaitlin Liszka was selected as the January's Student of the Month! Lets learn about her adventure and accomplishments so far.

Kaitlin is currently a sophomore in the Agriculture and Extension Education major. However, she has an interesting story of how she ended up in this major. She had attended Ohio State University majoring in Animal Science, but while she was there she realized that there was a place for her in Agriculture Education. This caused her to transfer to Penn State, and had switched majors to focus on Agriculture Education rather than just animal science.

Her plans after graduation are not set in stone because she knows that life plans change, but her current plan is to become an Extension Educator. Her passion is to teach agriculture is driven by the realization that there was a large disconnect between farm to plate. She states, "As I went through my classes it became more and more evident to me that I was more passionate about making sure that everyone could understand why we feed cattle grain than figuring out how much grain we needed to feed the cattle, so when I transferred to Penn State I also made the decision to change my major so that I would be better equip to follow my passions." Her goal as an educator is to create educated consumers, and equip the public to be able to understand the food system to make educated decisions when they buy their food. She stays motivated towards her major by being a part of experiences that allow her to get a glimpse of what she will do once she is graduated.

Kaitlin is also active outside of class in several clubs and organizations including LEAD Society, Collegiate Cattlewomen, Global Teach Ag!, and Cedar Heights RSO.

Fun Facts about Kaitlin:
Hometown: Jamestown, PA
Graduation year: 2020
Birthday: December 8th, 1995
Favorite PSU class: ASTRO 1
Favorite places to eat in State College: Otto's
Favorite athletics team/sport: Steelers
Favorite hangout on campus: The Creamery
Favorite thing at PSU: The Creamery Ice Cream
Agricultural Program Activities: 4-H
Twitter Handle: @KailtinLiszka
Instagram: kait_liszka21

 Luke Kerstetter

Communications Team Member

Twitter Handle: @lmkerstetter96

2020 Agricultural Education Student Teacher