National FFA Finalists meet in St Louis, trip sponsored by Monsanto

Friday 11-12-10

Friday was the best day of the trip.  I met with 5 different Monsanto workers who were originally part of Monsanto's animal division.  These people currently work with plants at Monsanto, testing these plants for animal consumption.  I had a half hour to talk with each employee and gained much wisdom from them.  We then had a presentation done by a Monsanto college recruiter who told us how to properly apply for internships. 

From Monsanto's main campus we traveled to the airport where we got a plane to Detroit then Columbus.  I arrived back at my dorm at 11:30 pm.   Thanks, everyone, for the support and encouragement.

Rebekah

Thursday 11-11-10

This morning we traveled to the Monsanto Research facility where we had a very good tour that showed us the different steps of some of the plant research that Monsanto does. We saw all steps from tissue culture work to greenhouse test collection, often a 5-8 year process. They actually have 26 green houses on the roof of their main research facility. At Monsanto we had a presentation on Information Technology by a past FFA member, Obed Patty.

After touring Monsanto we changed out of our offical FFA dress and into street clothes so we could tour the city. We drove through the Frontier park, home of the 1904 World Fair that was held in St. Louis. We also visited the Cathedral and Arch to the Midwest. We were able to go up into the arch, which was pretty cool. From the Arch we went to an Italian restaurant that had really good food.

Tomorrow, the FFA students will meet up with mentors while the adults tour more of Monsanto. The goal is to leave St. Louis around 4:00 pm.

Rebekah

Wednesday 11-10-10

Around noon today Mr. Poulson and I flew out of the Columbus Airport to the Chicago Airport, where we made a connecting flight to St. Louis, Missouri. Arrival time was around 6:00 pm. At 6:15 pm we met with the other finalists and their parents along with Jenna Cox of the National FFA.

At the restaurant we met up with Kim Skinner, the Community Outreach Manager for Monsanto. Throughout the dinner we were able to get to know one another better and learned a little bit about Monsanto from Mrs. Skinner.

Tomorrow we can look forward to touring the labs and greenhouses along with having a guided tour around St. Louis. Go Bucks!! We needed to add that because we are with a fan for the Boilermakers, Spartans, Wolverines and Illini. More tomorrow.

Rebekah