AgOne Blog

Stacy Irwin

When I was applying to the Fourth Cohort of the AgOne Program the main thought in my mind was using this opportunity to grow in my role as a Leader. From looking at my true self, to building my own personal legacy and learning to be a stronger leader, I found the topics inspiring and thought provoking. 

We started off the day with introductions and this introduction had to include your own “Hype” or “Walk up” song.  I immediately knew that mine had to be from the 80’s (as an 80’s kid), and settled on the song “She Works Hard For The Money,” by Donna Summer.  Throughout the day there were many opportunities for sharing, initial networking, and making friends.  We explored this journey that we will be taking throughout the next year, discussing mindset, motivation, vision, and core values.  This led to some internal reflection, and asking ourselves what our personal vision statement is.

We were introduced to the BUILD Assessment, a Leadership Assessment tool that provided us with feedback from our peers, allowing a personalized look at how you and others perceive your leadership.  This tool will allow us to start looking at our relational skills, self-leadership, and stewardship all work together. We all agreed that the results were very interesting and valuable. 

The OSU Department of Agricultural Communication, Education, and Leadership (ACEL) team will be leading us on this journey, and having them as a resource for this program is a rare chance that we are excited to have.  

So many of us never take the time away for ourselves to work on leadership growth.  I am looking forward to the time that this program will let me put into my own growth and personal development as well as the opportunity to grow as a leader, and I am also looking forward to seeing where that song pops up in the future!