By Libby Witham  

What motivated four urban kids to pursue an education and career in agriculture? For these Indiana seniors from Purdue University, the closest thing they saw to agriculture growing up was passing by corn, soybeans and cattle on their way to school. Growing up in an urban area leaves little exposure to the agricultural industry, even in a Midwestern state.

What brings these four students together is that they became interested in pursuing a career in the ag industry. With the agricultural industry changing with new technologies, methods, research and skills, it’s important for the younger generation to become involved and learn these skills so they can take over later.

Hannah Hawrot is studying agricultural and biological engineering with an eagerness to learn about natural resources. Maddy Dubelko is on her way to becoming a horticulturalist in a year. Joshua Calhoun is studying agricultural education with an appetite for advocating for agriculture to anyone around him. Lauren Heady specializes in agribusiness management and looks forward to a career in sales. 

What got them started in their passion in agriculture? What made them want to pursue this career path? What do they plan to do in the future?

Nonfarm seniors share
These four seniors answer these questions and others in this exclusive interview:

What began your passion in agriculture?

Hawrot: I’ve wanted to help improve the environment, and I was intrigued as to how agriculture engineering solutions could [help] do that.

Dubelko: I became interested in horticulture because of my interest in caring for houseplants and gardens.

Calhoun: A family friend signed me up for 4-H, took me to meetings and helped me with projects. I was a curious kid growing up, so I became interested when I could explore all the details of agriculture.

Heady: Jobs [near] my house were agriculture-related. I landed my first job being a worker in a feed barn. After that, I wanted to explore more of the agriculture industry by taking jobs with a certified organic vegetable farmer, then interning [while] a senior in high school for an organic beef, swine, chicken and turkey farm.

LIVE OUT YOUR PASSION: Hannah Hawrot is still a college student, but she’s obtaining training working in a water quality lab, which should help her in the future.

Why is it important at a young age to advocate for agriculture?

Hawrot: I think the public doesn’t understand just how complex the path to sustainable success in agriculture can be, and how long of a process it can be. I want to use my career to show how important the role of agriculture is in solving the world’s grand challenges, like food and water availability.

Dubelko: I think it’s important because there are so many things that a person in agriculture could do, but they often aren’t talked about. Most people don’t know that there are a lot of jobs in the agriculture industry.

Calhoun: It’s crucial for me to be an advocate for agriculture at this age because my generation is the future. If I want future generations to be strong and positive about agricultural production, then I need to start advocating now.

Heady: My generation can become trend-driven; to that point, I understand non-GMO/hormone and antibiotic-free is the most popular trend in healthy eating. Since most of my generation has that trend, it’s my responsibility to encourage my generation to not settle for trends, but to research them before taking a position.

CAREER IN AGRIBUSINESS: Lauren Heady believes her Purdue education will help her succeed in a career in ag business.

Have there been challenges since you didn’t grow up with an agricultural background?

Hawrot: This past summer, I had a crop research internship, and I found it [challenging] relating to growers, particularly in discussing certain farm machinery and planting preferences.

Dubelko: As someone who didn’t grow up around the agricultural industry, there was some culture shock since I am from an urban area. There was also a lot more common knowledge about common farming practices, such as how long corn takes to grow. I think it’s important for people in the agricultural industry to recognize that common agricultural skills aren’t taught in more suburban and urban areas. There is no agriculture or horticulture class.

Calhoun: When people assume I either know nothing or know everything instead of assessing my skill set about agriculture before just diving in, it makes me feel worthless to the industry.

Heady: One of the challenges I have faced is college-aged students on campus. I was sitting in a bus headed back to my apartment and a girl brought two plants onto the bus. I struck up a conversation with her and she said the plants were part of a class project. I asked if she knew what the plants’ names were. She didn’t. I told her about them: sugarbeets. She looked at me and said, “I had no idea how useful this plant was, thanks!”

Conversations just like this one take less than two minutes. If every college-aged student in agriculture took time to talk to their peers about agriculture, we could have a higher awareness regarding our industry.

PASSION FOR HORTICULTURE:  Maddy Dubelko (left) shares her passion for horticulture as she shows visitors around the Purdue Horticulture Park.

What do you plan to do after you complete your undergraduate degree?

Hawrot: My goal is to help people, whether growers or communities, to use water resources in a more efficient, sustainable way through feasible designs that preserve soil and water quality. I want to use my technical and communication skills to express the importance of conserving natural resources.

Dubelko: I plan to pursue graduate work in sustainable horticulture. After that, I plan to become a horticulturalist, working in a public garden.

Calhoun: When I first started at Purdue, I had no true end goal. Now everyone assumes I’m going to play teacher, but that is not my style at all. I feel like traditional U.S. classroom walls limit me, because I think everywhere and anywhere should be a classroom — not just within a set of walls. After a long, winding journey and several thousand different experiences, my end career goal is to develop and implement an agricultural education curriculum program abroad.

Heady: I plan on beginning my career in sales for Elanco Animal Health. As a young adult, not too many of us know what our end goal is. My idea is to try the animal health industry and then to go back to school to receive my master’s degree. My end goal is to help people.

Witham is a senior in ag communication at Purdue University. She writes from West Lafayette, Ind.