Grope

To be completely honest, I'm a little surprised that none of my students have said anything about this Thought posted on my door. What high schooler wouldn't have to take a second look at this poster? That being said, I did pick out this Thought with a purpose.

I think what separates those who experiment with careers and go somewhere with it from those who simply jump around from job to job, is the idea of objectives. In recent weeks, I've been really struggling with what I want to do with the rest of my life. In all honesty, I have no clue what I want to do. That being said, I do have objectives. I know what I want to be involved with throughout my life. I know that throughout my career, I want to do something that will allow me to be involved in education, agriculture and intrapreneurialism. Now, it's just a matter of finding something that I can practice and hone each one of those.

It's ok to not know what you want to do. Before you can know what you want to do, you need to know what you want to be involved with. What are your objectives? What are those things that are ground-zero, basement level characteristics that HAVE to be in your life? Find them. Find your objectives. The rest will come easy. Explore, sure. But don't grope. Explore with objectives.

America

Ignoring the fantastic undertones of today's Thought, I think this phrase hits on an important mindset that has shaped all of us. When you think of the American Dream, a likely image is that of a poor immigrant who came to this country and made it big by working hard, being honest and always doing his or her best. Stereotypes aside, this image is very powerful.

This imagery (and phrase) tell us that what makes us unique is the fact that we believe if you work hard, play square with those around you, you should get some pretty good returns. If you sow goodness, you should reap goodness.

I think there's always going to be times when no matter what you do, it's just going to be thrown in your face, but on the whole I believe that this vision of the American Dream holds true. I don't think any of us would be where we are if we didn't wholeheartedly (implicitly) believe this statement. What will you sow?

Connected

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend Agriculture Future of America Leaders Conference in my final year of eligibility. For those of you unaware, AFA is a professional development organization serving outstanding college men and women pursuing degrees in the agricultural field. Throughout the weekend I met and interacted with numerous people, from CEOs of the top agricultural companies to collegiate peers just starting out in the journey called life after college. However, it didn't really hit me until this morning just what this experience meant to me.

Throughout the day today I have been receiving various emails, tweets, LinkedIn Connections and friend requests from people I met. Despite the fact that we are all miles apart, we still seek a way to stay connected. It's quite amazing the network that I have built along with my fellow agricultural professionals.

I will confess, I have no idea where this image comes from. I found it in a simple Google Image search and I thought it summed up this idea of being connected quite well. You see, it doesn't matter where life takes us, what matters is the fact that we continue to keep these connections alive. This connection is our life-blood. Without it, we would be lost, confused, out on our own in what can be an unforgiving professional world. Will you be connected? Don't let yourself sit out there alone. Find people. Make friendships. Who knows, years down the road, these connections might just save your life.