Sporting (or Advocating) Your Pride

Stepping into Lane Stadium on game day is a breath taking experience for those who have never witnessed it. Thousands of fans, decked out from head to toe in maroon and orange, pack into the stands. The band, cheerleaders and members of the dance team warm up off to the side of the field. Chants of “Let’s go… Hokies” echoes from one side of the student section to the other in the North End Zone. However, all the anticipation comes to a peak when the first few notes of “Enter Sandman” trickles out of the speakers and the crowd starts jumping. By the time Metallica reaches the chorus, the football team hits the field and the stadium erupts. In that moment, you can see Hokie pride in every face rooting for the home team.

View of Lane Stadium at my very first VT football game my freshman year.

Pride is comprised of passion for a cause, endurance through the hard times, and focus on the future. It’s one of those characteristics that a person cannot hide, mostly because having pride in something makes up a large part of whom that person is.

When I do my AGvocacy training workshops with youth, I talk about how pride and respect play a crucial role in being a great advocate for agriculture. The difference between a normal farmer's pride and, let’s say, Hokie pride is that cattle producers tend to be much quieter about it. Don’t get me wrong, modesty is a great quality to have, but in today’s society, being more vocal about the pride one has in something greater than themselves is certainly not a bad thing - especially when it comes to agriculture.

FFA members at the Appalachian Area Leadership Conference
discussing the aspects of agriculture they are most proud to be apart of.

As a full time college student, it has certainly been quite the balancing act to fulfill the demands of this program, while also maintaining my scholarly responsibilities. My end-of-the-semester goal is to create an online certificate program for Virginia AGvocates, similar to the one I created for the Virginia Beef Quality Assurance Program, that would alleviate some of the travel that I have to do, while also helping students find the confidence they need to sport their pride for agriculture.

One certificate program I just completed that I would love to emulate with this vision for AGvocates is the National Beef Checkoff supported program, Masters of Beef Advocacy. This online course provides producers the resources they need to become well versed in promoting and advocating in six focus areas: Modern Beef Production, Animal Care, Beef Safety, Beef Nutrition, Environmental Stewardship, and the Beef Checkoff. After completing this course, producers can feel more confident in discussing these industry topics and the pride they have for their products with consumers, which increases their confidence in the products we are providing for them - which is exactly what I would love to see Virginia AGvocates do! I hope to get in touch with 

Demonstrating pride in our industry though advocacy allows producers to become a strong component of agricultural promotion in Virginia, increasing consumer awareness of the positive aspects of our industry. I'm excited to see where this project goes!