Tight-knit Community Helps Everyone Pursue Their Goals
By Olivia Kuhn
Alexandra Carter, a sophomore agricultural education major from Bowling Green, Kentucky, has a vision. She wants to teach in other countries around the world. It combines her loves for educating people, agriculture, and working in other cultures.
“I want to share why agriculture is so important with as many people as possible,” Carter said.
It was her vision that led Carter to Purdue.
Alexandra Carter says that the faculty, staff, and students in the Purdue Agricultural Education program are close and work hard to help everyone reach their goals. Photo by Olivia Kuhn One of the things that has struck Carter during her time at Purdue is how all the faculty, staff, and even other students listen and help all students see their visions for their own futures. What’s more, she said, they will do everything in their power to help you reach those goals.
One way AgEd supports Carter’s vision is by being tight-knit. Carter said the program “gets” her and her personal goals. This has led to personalized attention.
“It’s small, its personable, and the people are always willing to help you,” Carter said.
She also said that the program emphasizes hands-on work, which she feels will really help her carry out her vision.
“We get in a classroom setting with students within our first two years of classes,” Carter said. “This has helped me out a ton, because it has given me that hands-on experience that I need to help me know that this is what I want to do.”
To Carter its more than it just being hands-on quickly, it has to do with applying what she is learning in a real context.
“I love being able to take what we are learning in our education classes and actually use them in real-world situations, and I feel like I am able to make a difference in students’ lives already,” she said.
AgEd doesn’t just understand Carter’s vision, they’re helping her get of sense of that through international experiences. She participated in the International Engagement and Community Development experience in Peru over spring break.
Carter said that although she wants to teach in other parts of the world, this was her first experience out of the country. She loved every minute of it. The trip helped solidify her passions and lit even more of a fire in her to work globally.
“It taught me how to interact with people in other cultures,” Carter said. “I had no idea you could embrace a culture that isn’t your own and love it as much as your own without getting rid of your own culture.”
Carter sees the agricultural education major as more than just classes. She sees it as a family that is going to help her go far in life. The program is helping her see her goals and find ways to attain them, she said.
“Everyone has my best interests in mind and will do anything and everything they can to help me succeed,” Carter said.
