The Kansas Corn Experience

Guest Blog: Careers in Corn From the Eyes of a College Student

Blog written by Jaylie Weseloh, Collegiate Academy Class 1

Last fall I was given the opportunity to receive extra credit by one of my advisors at Allen County Community College to attend the Careers in Corn event on campus. During the event, I listened to several speakers from a wide range of agricultural fields, such as a Farm Credit representative and a distributer of DDGS, a co-product of ethanol. I grew up on a ranch in southeast Kansas and knew about different careers in agriculture, but I didn’t realize how many had connections relating back to corn.

As everyone was mingling afterwards, they drew names for free memberships for the Kansas Corn Growers Association, and I was one of the winners. During the event, one of the hosts from Kansas Corn had mentioned this new program for college kids called the Kansas Corn Collegiate Academy. I applied thinking it would be fun to learn more about where some of the components of the feed I give my cattle comes from. I was notified later that fall I was accepted to be a participant.

After going to several sessions, learning lots of new things about the industry and meeting a lot of awesome people, I was asked to help with a couple Careers in Corn events in southeast Kansas. The speakers at each event I attended have been interesting and diverse in their fields. All of them brought different ideas or views to the discussion.

Since my first meeting I have had the opportunity to meet many knowledgeable people and had many incredible experiences. If I hadn’t taken the opportunity last fall, I would have missed out on all of the astounding experiences and meeting so many knowledgeable people. This is truly a wonderful organization that has opened many doors for me already, and I can’t wait to see what is in store in the coming months as I finish the Kansas Corn Collegiate Academy.