Are you good at telling your own story? Do you have a passion for what you do? Have you ever communicated through challenges? Eighty-three students from 11 universities received insight from leaders in our industry at the 2016 Student Leadership Conference (SLC) held March 11-12 at the Kansas State University Campus in Olathe, Kansas. This conference was sponsored by the AMSA Student Membership, AMSA Education Foundation, Merck Animal Health and Smithfield Foods. “This was a great opportunity to give students a chance to try out their communication skills by jumping in and doing some radio and on-camera interviews. As students studying in the agriculture industry, it is important for us to work on our communications skills and become advocates for our industry and tell our story when the opportunity arises,” says Morgan Nielson, director for the AMSA Student Board and student at Oklahoma State University.
Many students arrived Friday morning to take part in the tours prior to the start of SLC. The students were able to tour Bichelmeyer Meats, a family-owned custom processing plant and retail counter since 1946. The group also toured UltraSource, LLC., a company that provides equipment and industrial supplies for the food industry. Students were taken through both plants and given a behind-the-scenes look at the day-to-day operations. After a day of tours, students were in for some great barbecue and networking as they headed into the Friday evening activities. There was a mix of disciplines within Smithfield Foods’ key leadership team that joined the students and provided some great insights on what it is like to work in the meat industry, and the journey each of them took to secure their current position in the company. The evening concluded with a lot of laughs and even a little sass from the students, who were hypnotized by Dr. Al Snyder during the student mixer.