Waiting in Detroit...

In the airport terminal I can typically be found reading the latest Jodi Picoult novel or frantically searching for a Starbucks near my departure gate. Chances are I am on the phone with my best friend Sunny... our longstanding friendship joke is that our hectic schedules only allow us to talk while en route. Due to my obsessive nature, I usually arrive at least an hour prior to boarding time and in today's case I am two and a half hours early. I am headed to Buffalo, New York for a week as part of my duties as a national Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow officer. Three other Mizzou ACT members will be joining me later in the week and I am excited to see these ladies after a summer apart! Now, let's just say I have the airport waiting game down to an art since my first flight to Florida to a Disney World vacation at age 14. (Please, no judgement because even as a teenager and now young

adult I love Disney!)

I am excited to be at the 2013 Agriculture Media Summit! It is the nation's largest gathering of agricultural communicators. Last year the conference was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I was elected as national ACT first vice president. My term as a national ACT officer allowed me to travel to Oklahoma, Arkansas and plan events like the ACT Professional Development Conference. I spent many hours on conference calls throughout the year. As first vice president I was in charge of the yearly critique and contest. For the entire spring semester my house was filled with communications projects submitted by ACT members from across the country! Last year at AMS I also served as an intern for the firm, Cummins Consulting where I helped with conference planning and this year I completed freelance work.

Surrounded by the hustle and bustle of MCI airport in Kansas City I am reminded of the last time I sat in the Delta departure gate when I was headed to Mozambique. Unfortunately, that experience ended early but I have enjoyed recuperating at my farm during the remainder of summer. It has been a wonderful (and rare) opportunity to relax and recharge my batteries before fall semester beings. I finished the entire Gossip Girl series on Netflix, finally read Gone with the Wind, made trips to the lake and enjoyed country activities like horseback riding and fishing. I was even able to attend the Daviess County Fair, an event I have not missed since my first show at age 8. I have been warned by many to 'take it easy' and have reexamined my fall semester calendar to prioritize and better focus my energy.

This will be my last full year of my bachelor's degree and I am greatly looking forward to my third year at MU. Once again, I am living in a college house with my best friends. Although I am anxious to be back in 'CoMo' (the loving nickname for the college town of Columbia, Missouri) I have enjoyed this summer. From Africa to my hometown this has been a summer of unexpected events. I realize that few other college students have obtained an international internship, working with orphans in rural Africa was a life altering opportunity.

Somedays I find myself looking through my photos of the children and miss them terribly. (I do not however, miss life without electricity, running water or a rice/beans diet!) This will be my first time in New York. Visiting New York City on New Year's Eve is an item on my infamous bucket list. (Really it should be dubbed a travel dream list as most of the 205 items involve going to far-off places. Yes I have more than 200 things I want to do before I expire.) I caught the travel bug in high school and have been on numerous flights since those days (I honestly could not tell you an exact number.) A secret about me; I am afraid of heights. So, you would think flying would absolutely terrify me. Not a chance. I adore traveling, some might say I am obsessed with the concept of wonderlust. Traveling is an adventure; by boat, train or airplane arriving to your destination is a part of your travel story. So I am going to enjoy 'The StoryTeller' while I wait for my flight... and the next Nicholas Sparks novel to finally appear on bookstore shelves.

Cheers to my first visit to the 'empire state'!