By Jessica Wesson, 2020 AAEA Editorial Intern
This summer was unique for everyone, but especially for college students who had an internship. Many internships were cancelled, including mine. I was lined up to move to Wisconsin to intern for a magazine that was owned by American Farm Bureau. My internship was cancelled, and I was not able to go to Wisconsin. AAEA stepped up and gave me an internship like no other.
I was blessed to be hosted by three of the biggest agriculture magazines in the country, and all of it was virtual. I didn’t know that virtual internships could exist, and I am not sure that many other people did either at that point. I am so thankful that AAEA gave me a virtual opportunity to work with some of the best writers, editors, reporters, graphic designers and photographers that our industry has to offer.
My first three weeks were spent with Successful Farming. I wrote plenty of stories about agricultural technology, production agriculture and other interesting topics. I also spent time working on podcasts and video production. The next part of my internship was spent working for Farm Progress/Farm Press. I wrote stories about crop production in my home state of Arkansas, which was a lifelong dream of mine. I have always been driven to promote my state’s agriculture. It was so much fun to be able to interview local experts and share Arkansas’ amazing production. The last three weeks were with DTN’s Progressive Farmer. This magazine allowed me to expand my horizons and write about topics that I was passionate about. I gained a deeper understanding of how COVID-19 was affecting farmers, not only in my state, but around the country. I also learned how the pandemic affected the food-supply chains and the state/local fairs. I was able to write on these subjects and others, as I learned more about them.
While my original editorial internship with AAEA didn’t work out, I am so glad and thankful for the opportunity I was given to work for three amazing publications. I learned about reporting, writing, editing and other skills outside of those. I got a glimpse at photography, graphic design processes, video production and social media management. I wrote about topics and production practices that I was unfamiliar with before but ended up learning more than I could have imagined.
If you are an agricultural student who is interested in working for an agricultural publication, I would highly recommend this internship. It certainly helped me in considering my future career, and I can’t wait to see what happens when I graduate with my Master’s in 2022!