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| Katelyn Dietrich, Karla Ness, Matt Bates and Cassie Dorran at the Calgary Stampede |
Alberta Intern — Katelyn Dietrich
Representing
the Canadian Angus Association as the Alberta Intern, I have traveled 8,500
kilometres visiting 6 schools and reaching almost 500 students. I
have attended 15 shows at which I reached over 1,500 people whether
I was participating, judging, taking pictures or speaking. This summer I have
learned so much about myself, Angus and working in a prestigious office. This
has been a summer for the books.
When I applied for this position, there were many peers and parents who
assured me this internship would be the perfect opportunity not only because of
my involvement with Junior Angus Association but for
my career choice in the long run. How could that be possible for a Bachelor of
Education student you may ask. Well, based on these numbers, over 75% of those I reached this summer were youth varying from ages 5 to
21. A couple of years ago I decided that I wanted to spend the majority of my
life teaching children and am now halfway through my bachelor's degree. My
enthusiasm for youth and their capabilities spiraled from these Junior shows
and this summer has enforced my career choice.
I have always spent my summers in the show barn whether it is in Olds,
Lacombe or Bashaw and looking back I wouldn’t change one bit of it. Our family
vacations have and always will be spent in our trailer at some agriculture
grounds taking loonie showers and living out of a suitcase. They are spent with
our best friends, staying up way too late, getting up way too early and
enjoying every second of it. Being very close to the end of my show career,
travelling with the Canadian Angus Association has encouraged me to reflect on what it has taken
for me to get here. Programs that I have gone through such as the Alberta
Junior Angus Show or the National All Breeds Show have taught me many things I
wouldn’t have learned otherwise. This includes a wide range of skills from
manual things like putting up fence or how to pull a calf to life skills like
leadership or mentorship. I have made some of my best friends through these
summers because of our similar backgrounds and our passion for the agriculture
industry. I have learned how much planning and preparation goes into any big
event, and how many people contribute for such success.
I have watched many peewees become seniors. I myself have grown up and
am now helping tiny mites of the parents that were leading me around the show
ring 15 years ago. I have seen the joy of the first ribbon, the awe of the
first Grand Champion slap. I’ve seen strangers become friends. I have seen the
tears after getting stepped on, the hug after the judge’s handshake. I have
seen kids reach out to be there for one another in a time of need although they’ve never spoken
before. I have seen kids become family because of a road trip or
show spent stalled together. I have seen the true power and beauty of the
cattle industry. There really aren’t words to describe what these youth
programs do for every one of us Juniors today and in the future. Thank you to
those who plan these functions. Thank you to the parents who wipe the tears and
pay the entry fees. Thank you to those who come and give their time and
resources including judges, announcers, marshals. Thank you to those who donate year after
year. Thank you for believing in your Juniors and providing them opportunities
to shine. You are inevitably creating a generation of success and strength not
to mention investing in the future of the Canadian Angus Association.
Saskatchewan Intern—Karla Ness
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| CJAA Board with coordinator Belinda Wagner |
On the afternoon of the 24th, Juniors were able to start moving in. Our role was to help get the barn ready and everything set up because the actual show began on the 25th. This year, about 60 Juniors participated in Showdown. There are many different competitions that the Juniors can enter. I enjoy public speaking so I was one of the judges for that competition. The show got underway on the 25th and it seemed that the weekend flew by. We were up early in the morning and went to bed late at night. Needless to say I was a little tired by Sunday and ready to sleep on the plane ride back to Regina. I got to run the Twitter account at the show and make sure that those who could not attend were updated as to what was happening at the Junior event.
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| 2013 Showdown attendees |
My next and final internship event was the day after the Gold Show. I was headed to Neepawa, Manitoba. It was a six-hour trip and I was surprised when I crossed the border into Manitoba. What was my surprise you may be wondering? Well it was that Telus does not have very good coverage in the province. I was not aware of this and was without my phone for the weekend I was in Manitoba. You would not think it was that big of a deal, other than the fact that I was not very sure what I was supposed to do when I got to Neepawa and where I was supposed to go. So I had to adapt and even use a pay phone to let my parents know I was all right. I quickly learned how reliant I am on my cell phone. I will not lie, I was a bit frustrated when I could not use my phone. The event that took place in Neepawa over the August long weekend was the Manitoba Beef Round-Up. This is an all breeds show. The Canadian Junior Limousin Association had their Junior show at the Round-Up. I got to do a variety of judging and hosted the quiz bowl. It was a great event with 77 juniors in attendance. I left Neepawa August 5th and was happy when I crossed into Saskatchewan so I had cell service again. I am happy that I attended this event. I got to drive through where Showdown is going to be next year in Manitoba, see other parts of Manitoba and meet some great Manitobains.
Summer is winding down and I cannot believe that the end of my internship is here. It has been a crazy, busy, fun and full of learning kind of summer for me. I have been very fortunate to have travelled to a variety of different places. I was able to attend different events in the four western provinces from BC to Manitoba. Over the course of my summer, I traveled a total of 12,722 kilometres. That is including a couple of plane trips as well! I got to work with a two other great interns and develop relationships with them both that I will continue. We have worked well as a team, even though we are separated throughout Canada. I worked daily in Regina with two exceptional ladies. We were always laughing and swapping stories in the office or over a special lunch. There really was never a dull moment in the Saskatchewan Livestock Association office. Even though I was not in the Angus office in Calgary that much this summer, I am still grateful for the relationships that I have developed. Whenever I had a question or needed help, I knew that if I emailed anyone in the Angus office I would get a response quickly. Everyone is willing to help you with anything that you are working on. I was fortunate to work with Cassie and she taught me so much about design programs which will help me in my schooling. I cannot express how lucky I feel to have worked this summer with other agriculture advocates and I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for me in the agriculture industry. I say with confidence that I had the best internship and the most fun-filled summer. For me it was pretty easy going to work knowing that I was going to be promoting an industry that I love with great people!
Ontario Intern—Matt Bates
21136.24!
It's a pretty large number, but it’s also the total number of kilometres that
I’ve travelled this summer throughout the internship. This includes 6 flights
and several road trips throughout multiple provinces in Eastern and Western
Canada. It has certainly been an incredible journey, and it’s hard to believe
that 18 weeks have already passed. As they say… time flies when you’re having
fun.
In
these past few weeks, things have been slowly winding down from what was a
crazy busy July. I have mainly been working from home on various design
projects, one of which was an e-blast and a mail-out to Ontario Juniors for the
upcoming Ontario Junior Angus Show. I created several documents for this
including the rules and regulations, entry forms, advertisements and the show
schedule.
Another
project I worked on was a second promotional video for our Canadian Angus National
Convention, which summarizes the event in a short three-minute video clip. While
creating this video, I spent quite a bit of time sorting through photos from
this year’s Convention, and it reminded me how much fun was had by everyone
throughout the weekend. If you didn’t get a chance to come this year, certainly
consider attending next year’s event in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.
My
very last task of the summer is to write this blog post, and it has certainly
given me a chance to reflect on what has been an incredible summer. I have met
people from all around the province, country and the world. Whether it was a
farmer from Scotland, or an avid show family from Ontario, the people I’ve met
along this journey have certainly been the highlight of the summer. Not to mention the incredible people I’ve worked with. It’s safe to say
the staff at the Canadian Angus Association are all second to none. If I ever
needed anything, my emails were always answered quickly and thoroughly, and
every staff member was more than willing to help me at any time. And then
there’s Cassie. She was so patient with each of us interns as we learned the
ropes throughout the summer. I have a feeling she probably spent more time
responding to her interns emails than she did doing her own work. She also
spent an entire week training us at the beginning of the summer and organizing
us to ensure we had everything we needed. Tina also deserves a huge thank you
for sitting in on training week, and for helping us wherever she possibly could
throughout the summer. It actually feels like training week was only a couple
weeks ago, yet in reality it was a few months ago. Here I am writing my final
blog post, and it feels like the summer just began. This speaks volumes about
how incredible this job really is.
On a final note, I should inform everyone that although my 18-week summer internship is now over, I am not actually leaving the Canadian Angus Association. I have been hired on as the fieldman for the province of Ontario effective immediately. I look forward to continuing to serve our membership, and seeing each of you at sales, shows and events this fall, and into the future. As always, feel free to contact me anytime should you have any questions to do with the Association, or if you just want to talk ANGUS! I certainly live and breathe Angus every day, and I commend each and every person across the country that shares this same passion. Thanks to everyone for making this summer so great. The Angus industry certainly wouldn’t be as strong as it is today without all of the incredible people who support it!
Posted by Katelyn Dietrich, Karla Ness and Matt Bates
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