A busy week.

Last Sunday, I packed up my bags and flew out to Indianapolis, Indiana where I joined forty other interns from across the country for Intern training at the headquarters of Dow AgroSciences.

We started our first training promptly at 7:30 am on Monday morning by going through introductions which included where we were from, and the type of internship we would be doing this summer. There were interns from California, Nebraska, Illinois, Georgia, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Iowa, and many other states throughout the US. The different internships include seed sales, public relations, chemical sales, and urban pest management sales (me!). The first thing I noticed that everyone had was a lot of confidence. They seemed to have a really good idea of who they were and what they hoped to accomplish in life. After introductions, we launched right into our agenda which included sessions on business skills, expense management, safety, sales, and a tour of the campus. The campus tour would have been a lot of fun if I hadn’t been wearing a brand new adorable pair of shoes that gave me a dreadful blister. If you think I am exaggerating, then think again. In all eight years of my running career I never had a blister this bad. The worst part about was the fact that those shoes were so cute! Beauty is pain.
Despite the monotony of sitting and listening to speakers for long periods of time, we managed to have a little fun playing games and getting to know each other during breaks.
Although the schedule called for the group to go through Advanced Driver Training on Friday, I attended the training on Tuesday since I would be leaving on Thursday for a Student Advisory Team meeting in Kansas City. Driver training was mandatory since we are given company cars to drive during the summer. Little did I know, I would be joined by two hilarious sales reps who were required to take a driver refresher course. Oh boy. They cracked jokes right and left as we completed a very boring course.

On Wednesday, I joined the rest of the interns for yet another day of listening, learning, and socializing. At one point we practiced sales techniques by role-playing while utilizing our some of our freshly-learned knowledge about farming and various crops. Of course, I had no CLUE what I was talking about. Obviously I did not give my lack of knowledge because I volunteered to go FIRST in a group role play. Thanks to a handy-dandy little booklet and mad page-turning skills, I pulled off the role-play without making a complete idiot of myself among a group a farm-savvy individuals. Success!
That night we had a cookout at the hotel where we played a corn-hole tournament and were entertainment by a few people who happened to consume a large amount of alcohol. It’s funny how people who might normally be shy become totally different after several beers. I also had a long conversation with a fellow intern about life, relationships, farming, childhood, and our career ambitions.

Thursday morning started bright and early at 5:30 am. My supervisor and district sales manager arranged for me to meet some of the key people who work in the urban pest management division. Although I knew this was a privilege, I also knew that I was tired and exhausted from a week of getting a fraction of the sleep that I normally get. Fortunately the excitement of the opportunity kicked in and gave me the burst of energy I needed to engage and energetically interact with some of the top people of my job.
Thursday afternoon, I flew to Kansas City to join the Student Advisory Team for our second meeting.

This meeting was unique in that the four campus ambassadors would be joining us. They brought so much enthusiasm and excitement to an already great group of people. It continues to amaze me how tightly we have bonded together in the short amount of time that we have had. Of course, I realize that this is no coincidence. We were selected based on how our individual personalities, strengths, and weaknesses would mesh with the rest of the group.
We spent the next two days going through media training, facilitation training, working on conference planning, and taking group pictures.

Friday night, we went to a bbq place that had a karaoke bar. As we were heading out we saw this little kid who looked to be about 8 years old, rockin’ out to a Brittany Spears song. Definitely not expecting that. Furthermore, this kid was GOOD! I decided to sing a song along with a few others. Not that I could top this kid or anything… anyways, after we sang, the kid came up and told me that I made him nervous.. haha. I need to go back and take singing lessons from this kid. He could take Justin Bieber any day.

On Saturday night I flew home after a lengthy layover in Dallas, Texas. As I walked on to the plane, I caught a whiff of the warm summer air and was once again reminded of why I love the south so much.