Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2012

Deirdre Hilliard here! I am a junior majoring in Food and Resource Economics with a specialization in Agribusiness Marketing and Management and a minor in Entrepreneurship. I am from right here in Gainesville, FL. I transferred to the University of Florida from Santa Fe College in the spring semester of 2012. This was the best decision I have made in my life thus far. The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS) has made a large impact on my life. Since joining this wonderful college, I have been presented with opportunities I never dreamt of.

This summer, with the help of my advisors, I was able to secure a paid internship in the marketing department at Gainesville Regional Utilities. This internship has been the great real world experience. As I continue working for Gainesville Regional Utilities, I constantly have on the job training. My internship has been extended from just a summer internship to a year round opportunity. In September, five other students and I traveled to a conference put on by the Produce Marketing Association’s Foundation for Industry Talent and the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association in Naples, Florida. At the conference, we were able to learn about the produce market and network with many different people from the produce industry.

As a transfer student, or any first time incoming student at UF, life on campus can be complicated during your first semester. Whether you are trying to maneuver your way through the crowds of students, or simply trying to find where you fit in. For me, I knew that I wanted to do something to be involved with not just my peers, but also with faculty, staff, prospective students and alumni. After researching student opportunities on the CALS website, I found the page on the ambassadors. I immediately knew that it was the perfect fit for me. Being an ambassador has been more than just making new friends; it has also allowed me to have additional opportunities during my first full year as a UF student.

In July, I traveled to the Florida Small Farms and Alternative Enterprises Conference in Kissimmee, Florida with two other ambassadors on behalf of UF/CALS and the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). At the conference, we helped with set-up and registration, which was a great opportunity to get to know Florida farmers. However, the best part of attending the conference was going to the different sessions. We learned about everything from food safety audits to the value of heritage breeds in livestock and poultry production. It was a great place to network with industry specialists as well as UF and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) professors.

Another opportunity, I relished this summer as an ambassador was being able to work at the new student convocation. It was an eye opening experience seeing what the incoming CALS freshmen are faced with. Since, there had not been a large scale convocation for transfer students. It was a very humbling experience to explain my love for CALS and my major to incoming freshman, as well as, answer the questions they had about starting college.

Think about Batman, Wolverine, Wonder Woman, Superman, Hulk, Spider-Man and Ironman. What do all of these superheroes have in common? They were all present at the Steinhatchee Landing Resort for CALS Ambassador training. This summer, I had my first training experience as an ambassador, and it has by far been my favorite experience to date. We all stayed in beautiful cottages. I even had the honor of staying in the cottage that once served as the vacation residence for President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter! The theme of our training was “Superheroes”. This theme did not just consist of how we were able to identify with superheroes on an individual level, but how we as ambassadors could be superheroes for prospective and current students, our college, the university, and the state of Florida.

One of the activities we did was to create “Ambassador Heroes” and list the powers and abilities that we would like for our heroes to have to be effective ambassadors. Some of the powers and abilities we came up with were super speed, rapid learning, super senses and immortality. Super speed would be used to make sure our heroes were always on time, and where they needed to be. We selected rapid learning so that the ambassador heroes would be able to learn the information about CALS and IFAS and be able to explain it in great detail to anyone who had a question. With super senses we could make sure that our ambassador heroes would be able to see every individual, hear every question and taste victory when we either recruited somebody to the college or taught somebody something that they did not previously know about CALS or IFAS. Lastly, we chose immortality so that the ambassadors never die. It is well known that the ambassadors are a great group of students and very important to the CALS/IFAS, UF and the state of Florida. Immortality is the super power that will keep the ambassadors going strong forever!

On September 27, 2012, the college held the first Solutions Seminar of the year. This seminar was an educational celebration of the Morrill Act. We had 80 students sign up to attend the event and celebrate the act, which made the University of Florida what it is today, a top 5 land-grant institution. Abraham Lincoln made an appearance, cut and served the ceremonial cake and took pictures with students (of course I had my picture taken, how often do you get to meet a former president?). Our Dean, Dr. Teresa Balser and Agricultural Education and Communication Professor Dr. Kirby Barrick both gave outstanding presentations about the opportunities the Morrill Act gave UF and the vision for the future. UF also has a website devoted to being a land-grant university, http://landgrant.ufl.edu/

CALS is obviously a great and BUSY place to be!

“The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others.”-Solomon Ibn Gabriol

Go Gators!!

Deirdre A. Hilliard

Remember, The Gator Nation is Everywhere!! UF is Land Grand!

Deirdre Hilliard
Class: Junior
Hometown: Gainesville, Florida
Major: Food and Resource Economics
Specialization: Food and Agribusiness Marketing and Management
Minor: Entrepreneurship
Involvement: Food and Resource Economics Diplomat, Collegiate Farm Bureau, Agricultural Economics Club Historian, UF Chapter of National Agri-Marketing Association, UF Chapter of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, Rebuilding Together
Hobbies: Anything sports related, photography, cooking and crocheting

After College: Plans to attend graduate school before pursuing a career in marketing.