AGL Graduation

On August 7, Justin and I traveled to Athens for my AGL graduation. It has been a magnificent two years. The group was offered an online poll to select two class participants to speak at our graduation.

Brandon Ashley and I were the two chosen. I was overwhelmed to say the least—I am not a good public speaker. I had a wonderful speech in my opinion but Justin (my best and most helpful critic) told me he stopped counting my “ums” after 45. I think I might need a public speaking class to step up my game. Here is what I had to say:

These past two years have flown by for me. We have experienced the highs and lows of life together as a group. We have had four AGL babies born, marriage, loss, sickness, and health. That kinda sounds like wedding vows right?

When my classmates elected me to speak at this event, I was overwhelmed when I thought about having to sum up my experience from 2 years, 52 days away from home, into 10 short minutes.

AGL’s impact has been three-fold: it has impacted us—the participants—directly, it has impacted our support networks, and it has impacted our industry.

Let’s talk about these pictures right here.

This is at our coastal session. Since I went to school at Georgia Southern, Savannah was a place full of great memories with friends on the weekends between school exams. As most of my friends and family knows, I have never been enticed in my life to try an oyster. I don’t like seafood for the most part; much less the idea of shucking a glob of goo with a sharp knife and eating it. I took the chance and popped that oyster open all the while not managing to lose a finger, topped it off with a healthy dose of horseradish, and slid it down the hatch. My eyes immediately burned and my nose flared. So okay, maybe I got carried away with the horseradish, but I DID IT! I ate an oyster. Ever the documentarian, I made sure some of our group caught the action on camera, especially to prove to Justin and the folks back home that I actually did it. That brings me back to the day I interviewed for this program. Dr. Sapp quoted Neale Donald Walsch, “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” It became my mantra throughout the program.

Did I want to travel all the way up to Rock Eagle for our first session with a guy in the program I barely knew? Did I want to share a room for the first time since college with ladies who didn’t know yet that I snore like bear? Did I want to meet members of the Lead New York program and stay at their house within a few hours of seeing their faces for the first time in my life? The answer was resoundingly no. But I did it. I survived and I have the best stories to tell about it. The experiences this program has afforded me are by far the most important pieces to the puzzle. Through an array of personality tests, random sessions that felt out of place in the grand scheme of things, and a whole lot of soul searching, I have come to know who I am and how I work with others even better than before. I can look back on this two year journey and understand how each and every single piece shaped what I am doing in my career and even in my personal life. I have a strong network of friends that I can call on, text, or email if a problem comes up and I need solutions. I have an “in” at industries throughout the state. It’s much easier to say, “Mr. So-and-so, I met you when you spoke to our AGL group…and I need a favor, information, etc.” That type of network cannot be bought and you can’t build that up without years of experience in your field. I can walk into any industry function and am almost guaranteed to see one of my fellow classmates represented. Last week at the Joint Ag Chairmen Ag Issues Summit in Tifton, I was able to see Brandon, Duane, and Sherry.

That brings me to the second part. AGL has impacted my support network in an impressive way. My husband Justin and I had our son Wyatt a year before the applications went out for the inaugural class. I had just been accepted into the masters of ag leadership program at UGA as well. Was I crazy to take on a full-time job, a toddler, grad school, and try to maintain my presence in a leadership program? Probably. This was not a singular decision. My boss at the time, Donnie Smith, encouraged me to participate. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and he hated to see me turn it down. So Justin and I talked it out. We prayed on it. We talked to our parents and sisters. We would have no shortage of child care for Wyatt when Justin was at the fire department and I was out of town for sessions. Justin has told me time and again that he has really learned a lot about himself and ourselves as a couple through this class. Most of the interpersonal communication work is designed for us to recognize how we react to others at work but it has very real implications on my personal life as well. I think we have officially confirmed that opposites attract.

The third way AGL has had a significant impact is on our industry in general. This really humbled me:

Agriculture has a $76.9 billion economic impact for the state of Georgia. I think that might be taken for granted by those of us in the industry. I always tell my agritourism clients that what we think is normal is extraordinary for others. I think that seeing this box of produce from a farm within 15 minutes of my office in Hunt’s Point Terminal Market (the largest food distribution point in the world) really drove home the impact that farmers and agribusiness companies in our state make. It can be overwhelming in such a large industry to feel like you’re making an impact.

I mentioned earlier that I’m a documentarian. I take hundreds of pictures from each of our sessions. I post to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. I hashtag and all of that fun stuff. Derick does it too—he’s a social media guru. I also maintain a personal blog that is my family’s digital scrapbook. I share these posts for folks that must not have any good reading material because they are interested in reading what I write. Over two years and more than 20 blog posts, 850 folks have read about my experiences in this program. That is in addition to all of that other social media mess. I am definitely not the next Ariana Huffington, but that means more than 800 people that may or may not have experience in agriculture have learned about olive oil in south Georgia, wild shrimp from the coast, and Jenni’s grass-fed everythings. We are all advocates (ag-vocates, if you will) about this industry and the vitality it provides for our state’s economy.

So with all of that I want to challenge each and every one of you. We learned from our state and federal legislators that every voice makes that needle move just a bit further. If all of us stand up and advocate for our industry, imagine what we could do. Go out and evangelize the wonderful nature of our industry—talk about its importance to our economy and the families that depend on it to make their living. Tell others about this program and the impacts it has had on you. Let’s make our class the first of many great classes to come in the future.

I am more than grateful to have had this opportunity and the support of everyone around me.

Especially, I am proud of this man. He was my biggest cheerleader, supporter, and friend. I’m glad to have him in my life.

On a funny note, I got a parking warning while on campus. That was nice of them to let me off easy.

The FINAL One: India Part 10

On our last full night in India (Friday, July 11), we had a beautiful send off dinner at the Skipper Farm just outside of Jaipur.

 

We were greeted by peacocks roaming free, camels, flower garlands, and beautiful lighting. We enjoyed a cultural show, watched craftsmen create their handiwork right in front of us (including a bangle made to fit my hand exactly!), and ate one last proper Indian meal.

 

There was a lot of fun dancing but I claimed the photographer role, so I didn’t take part of the festivities. Some of us were more reluctant than others.

 

 

We also all got together and bought our assistant director Kristi a hand-woven rug. She fell in love with it so we all chipped in.

 

Our last partial day in India, Saturday, July 12 was spent traveling back to Delhi. We stopped at the Amul Dairy processing plant where we were treated to a tour and fresh-off-the-line ice cream. They asked for us not to photograph there so I am only left with sweet memories.

That evening we rested up, made our final packing arrangements, had a goodbye dinner with our wonderful guide Raj, loaded up the bus and made tracks to the airport to head home. I was in dire need of a Dr. Pepper with ICE and to see my boys!

After a quick 8 hour flight to Germany that was complete with a 6 hour nap thanks to over-the-counter sleeping medication and utter exhaustion, I cleaned up in the airport showers (best idea EVER! If you travel internationally-DO IT! It will refresh you for sure!), and we departed for our final trip. I tried to keep myself entertained with in-flight movies. It was nice to see Divergent again since it’s not out on DVD yet, but I was just antsy to get home.

I made it through customs at the Atlanta airport fairly quickly. I actually beat my bags, so I had to (not-so-patiently) wait for them before I got to see Wyatt and Justin. As I dragged my luggage to the arrivals lobby, I could hardly see through my tears of happiness. I was so excited to catch Wyatt in my arms and to see Justin. We stopped at Applebee’s for a big steak and headed straight to Cordele for me to meet Mr. Pax and see Suzi. The little punk would hardly open his eyes but I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. He is adorable! So glad I got to finally meet him! Thankfully Sami was there to catch our first meeting.

I appreciated the opportunity to travel and learn about different cultures, but it sure made me appreciate home. I can’t wait to see what’s next for us!

India Part 9

On Thursday, July 10, we started out our trip to Jaipur with a visit to Fatehpur Sikri, a fort built in the 1500s that was only utilized for 15 years. It was full of ornate stone carvings that looked like they were done in wood.

 

 

On our way back down from the fort, we saw a snake charmer. I think this is more of an outdated stereotype but he definitely played it up for the tourists.

After that, we made it to Jaipur and visited a milk collection centre. India is the largest dairy producing country in the world and they achieve that from farmers that only have one or two cows. Amul Dairy and other milk cooperatives have milk collection centres where villagers can bring small quantities of milk and have it tested for milk fat composition and get paid for what they bring twice a month. Many of the people bringing the milk were children. They were so sweet. They all lined up and paraded through our bus just to get a look at it!

 

 

On Friday, July 11, we drove past the Palace of the Winds. This amazing palace of the Pink City” was full of windows and was breathtaking!

 

The next stop was my most-awaited: an elephant ride up to the Amber Fort. I was so excited to experience this! We paired up and rode side straddle in a metal seat. I suppose I was expecting a smooth forward-facing ride like a horseback ride, but that is not at all what we got. Elephants are rough! It was absolutely amazing to ascend the hill on such a magnificent creature.

 

 

 

After our ride to the top, we disembarked and met in the center of the Amber Fort. There were monkeys that were feet from us. They were climbing in the trash for food and playing around as if we weren’t even there. I am sure they are used to tourists snapping their photos.

 

The Amber Fort was probably my favorite fort we toured esthetically. It had fully intact frescos that were original to the Fort from the late 16th century. It was cool and breezy. They had a gorgeous garden out in the middle of the lake in front of the fort as well.

 

One of my favorite parts of the fort was the Maharaja’s bedroom. It was surrounded by mirrored frescoes.

   

The gardens were all maintained and very intricate. I could just imagine having a garden like this, but mine would be more practical: it would have a different herb or vegetable per square.

 

For the ride down the mountain, we loaded up in groups of five in jeeps. Our driver stopped halfway down and let some of the guys in our group drive. I would have loved the opportunity to try it out but we were rushed for time.

 

A beautiful young girl asked to board our bus and she showed us some magic tricks. She reminded me so much of my niece Rivers. She had honey brown eyes that were so different than any we had seen while we were there.

 

Our next stop was at a jewelers co-op. They demonstrated how the craftsmen honed each uncut stone until it shone brilliantly.

Raw, uncut Indian emerald

 

Partially polished ruby

 

Of course, I tried to resist, but I did buy two rings. I bought this oval emerald ring and a square cut peridot ring. I snatched up the emerald because it is my and Wyatt’s birthstone and the peridot is Justin’s.

(Side note: I realized on the day we were leaving that I was having an allergic reaction to the emerald ring. I am allergic to nickel and I was afraid I had been duped and that my certified silver ring wasn’t actually silver. When I got home, I asked a local jeweler to check it out. It turns out, the emerald ring was silver that was rhodium plated with NICKEL. In the U.S., if something is rhodium plated, they do it with white gold. I assumed it was the same process all across the globe so I didn’t ask for clarification. The jeweler isn’t able to rhodium plate it with gold now because it won’t bond to the nickel. I might have to get some kind of shellac to make it where the nickel doesn’t come into contact with my skin. It is too beautiful to not wear! It was a great souvenir of my trip. The jeweler was not at fault. They sold me a piece and told me it was rhodium plated. The peridot ring is okay and is not nickel plated.)

 

We also visited a fabric block printing co-op. Can you believe this man is 80 years old and has been working at his craft for more than 60 years?!?

We also visited the observatory. This is hundreds of years old and yet they have instruments that can tell the time within 20 seconds of accuracy!

 

After our visit to the observatory, we shopped at some local street vendors. I got a haul of souvenirs for friends and family!

I haven’t mentioned the searing heat we experienced in India. It was blazing hot and humid. I drank liters of water every day. This was the temperature when we came back to the hotel one afternoon!