Robert M. Kerr

Food and Agricultural Products Center

 

By: Kirsten Hollansworth

 

Growing up, I lived in a rural area in southern Illinois. My high school graduating class had about 30 students, so it’s safe to say that everyone knew one another. It was very common for students in my high school to be involved in multiple sports and organizations. I found a passion for agricultural communications and enjoyed designing newsletters and writing press releases for the local newspaper.

 

After high school, I attended Southwestern Illinois College because it allowed me to save money for school while working. I completed my associate’s degree mid-year, and I knew I wanted to wait until the fall semester to transfer to a university. Therefore, I applied for a full-time job at Bayer Crop Science. While working at Bayer for two years, this position challenged me and gave me a deeper appreciation for the ag industry. I gained experience working in a fast-paced laboratory to support regulatory research. With the responsibility of handling valuable genetically modified plant tissue samples, I learned first-hand about the strict compliance laws.

 

In the fall I enrolled at Oklahoma State University and studied agricultural communications. Within the first week of classes, I called my grandma and told her I knew I wanted to attend graduate school. It was the community, academic opportunities and welcoming culture that made me dream of attending four years at OSU. With academic scholarships and working throughout school, my dream became a reality. While at OSU, one of my favorite experiences has been serving as a mentor for freshmen agriculture students living on campus.

 

Serving as the communications graduate assistant at the Robert M. Kerr Food and Agricultural Products Center for the past two years has been one of the best experiences. I view my assistantship as more than just a job, but an opportunity to promote FAPC’s guidance to food industry entrepreneurs to keep them on the forefront of cutting-edge processing and technology. I experienced first-hand the importance of supporting agricultural business sectors of Oklahoma. I gained an appreciation for the value of agriculture and food law because FAPC assists food entrepreneurs with label design or food safety regulations.

 

One of the most enjoyable aspects of my position is collaborating with the faculty and staff because of the diverse resources FAPC offers to the public. This past year, the Cowboy Meats Retail Store reopened, and this challenged me to rebrand and market a unique aspect of the university. Recently, I had the opportunity to conduct research using eye-tracking technology to determine customer’s point-of-purchase decisions at the retail store as it relates to food labels and food accessibility.

 

I’m so grateful for my experiences and I would encourage other students to take advantage of every opportunity. It’s hard for me to believe I started out writing press releases for a local newspaper, and now my stories have been published in more than 50 different publications nation-wide. My academic experience would not be the same without my experience at FAPC.

 

If you are a student interested in becoming involved at FAPC, I’m more than happy to answer any questions about my experience. Currently, FAPC is looking to hire someone with excellent writing skills to serve as the next communications graduate assistant.