2022 Rural Fellows—IANR Communications

Laurent Ikuzwe Author

08/08/2022 Added

6 Plays

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Student and Community Fellows talk about the community development projects they worked on with IANR Communications during Summer 2022.

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[00:00:03.900]This summer, I had the opportunity to work
[00:00:06.270]for the IANR communication team,
[00:00:08.880]through the Rural Prosperity Nebraska Program.
[00:00:12.030]The project that I worked on was the annual discovery
[00:00:15.630]days and Farmer's Market.
[00:00:17.700]This is a fun family friendly event that the
[00:00:21.180]University of Nebraska on East Campus prepares every year
[00:00:25.620]to introduce the community, to eat various activities.
[00:00:29.850]It transcends the usual Farmers Markets
[00:00:32.850]as beyond the usual regulars such as
[00:00:35.550]the food product vendors, craftsmen and food trucks.
[00:00:39.600]The event also includes sales demonstration
[00:00:42.840]from different departments of East Campus.
[00:00:46.920]So we were able to hold two events, one in June,
[00:00:50.850]another one in July, and we are preparing to the last one
[00:00:56.970]and the biggest one, this August.
[00:01:00.450]My responsibilities in this project included the preparation
[00:01:04.680]of communication content, such as the monthly news letter
[00:01:08.519]to introduce different activities
[00:01:11.190]and vendors to the communities.
[00:01:13.560]I had to create different social media content,
[00:01:16.590]and I also had to take pictures, videos, and testimonies
[00:01:20.970]during the event.
[00:01:23.190]As this sale's discovery day coincided with
[00:01:25.827]the 17th anniversary of The Backyard Farmer,
[00:01:29.250]a horticulture and agronomy TV show that runs
[00:01:33.150]on Nebraska Public Media, I had to help collect stories
[00:01:37.788]about the relationship of the TV show and the community
[00:01:42.360]in the last 70 years.
[00:01:47.370]The purpose of Discovery Days, like I mentioned is really
[00:01:52.620]just to connect with the community.
[00:01:55.590]So when it first was created, the thought was to bring
[00:02:02.430]more people to East Campus because not a lot of people
[00:02:05.040]are aware of what goes on in East Campus.
[00:02:07.860]At least those who are outside of the UNL community.
[00:02:10.920]Most people think of city campus when they think of UNL.
[00:02:13.920]So this is an opportunity to bring, you know
[00:02:17.730]our outside individuals, our outside neighborhoods
[00:02:20.310]into East Campus and show them what we have to offer.
[00:02:23.790]And that's by, you know, teaching them about science,
[00:02:26.869]introducing them to vendors that maybe they
[00:02:29.910]are not familiar with, and just kind of build
[00:02:32.820]a sense of community with UNL and the surrounding area.
[00:02:38.198]So as for what was accomplished this summer,
[00:02:42.480]I think that we were able to interact with a lot more
[00:02:49.290]of our community, than we have been able to in the past.
[00:02:53.070]So this summer we had more food trucks get involved.
[00:02:58.080]We had more departments of the university get involved.
[00:03:02.490]We had more vendors get involved that we
[00:03:04.350]had not had in years past.
[00:03:06.810]And I think that we did have a higher level
[00:03:10.020]of attendance this time around.
[00:03:12.240]So I think all those things considered that has really
[00:03:16.830]expanded our reach into the community.
[00:03:19.890]And that has allowed for more people to hear
[00:03:22.140]about this event, and hopefully going forward,
[00:03:25.912]it'll get bigger and bigger.
[00:03:28.095]But yeah, I think we accomplished a lot and we got
[00:03:31.020]to you know, interact with a lot more people
[00:03:34.710]than we had and formed new connections with people
[00:03:37.470]that we never had before, so.
[00:03:43.110]While working with Lauren this summer, and being part
[00:03:46.110]of the Rural Fellows Program, definitely helped me
[00:03:49.492]to become a more inclusive leader.
[00:03:53.558]It opened my eyes to not just different working styles,
[00:03:57.737]different ways that different people accomplish
[00:04:00.690]the same task, but it actually taught me how to collaborate
[00:04:05.963]and with different working styles.
[00:04:08.400]And accomplish something greater than either one of us
[00:04:12.251]could have accomplished on our own.
[00:04:16.140]So I think effective leadership, which is one
[00:04:19.380]of the things that I learned this summer is
[00:04:20.790]I think effective leadership,
[00:04:22.290]inclusive leadership is a back and forth process.
[00:04:27.570]So when Lauren and I were working on, for example
[00:04:30.450]the newsletter for the Discovery Days of Farmer's Market,
[00:04:34.376]we'd sit down, we'd bounce some ideas off of each other.
[00:04:38.910]He'd give me feedback, I'd give him feedback.
[00:04:42.477]We'd come up with better ideas, based on each other's
[00:04:46.470]feedback that we'd shared with each other.
[00:04:50.100]We'd go through draft and then we'd kind of
[00:04:51.870]rinse and repeat.
[00:04:53.250]So it was this very collaborative process
[00:04:55.950]of giving, taking, building together.
[00:04:59.632]And then through that process, Lauren came up
[00:05:02.880]with a newsletter that really helped spread the word,
[00:05:06.030]about Discovery Days, and attract more people to it.
[00:05:11.400]Highlight more vendors, kind of accentuate a lot
[00:05:14.280]of the great things about Discovery Days,
[00:05:16.710]than I think people knew in previous years.
[00:05:21.000]So this idea of leadership, isn't just about,
[00:05:26.941]telling people what to do, it's about creating a space
[00:05:32.070]where yes like people accomplish tasks, right?
[00:05:36.333]As a leader you want people to accomplish something.
[00:05:39.420]So it is, you want people to accomplish that,
[00:05:41.520]but it's about creating a space where through those tasks,
[00:05:45.990]people can figure themselves out,
[00:05:48.840]and learn about themselves and know themselves
[00:05:51.660]a little bit better.
[00:05:53.250]And that was something that happened to me.
[00:05:55.440]And hopefully I think that is something that happened
[00:05:57.720]with our team and with Lauren as well.
[00:06:04.770]This experience helped me to acquire different knowledge
[00:06:08.070]and skills that I think would be useful in my future.
[00:06:11.910]I acquired technical skills such as interviewing,
[00:06:15.330]content creation, design and photography,
[00:06:19.290]that I believe will help me in the communication career
[00:06:22.620]and storytelling that I want to pursue.
[00:06:26.160]I also learned event management
[00:06:29.010]especially the communication side.
[00:06:33.540]I have also been able to learn different workplace behavior
[00:06:37.380]such as team work, leadership and professionalism,
[00:06:41.070]which I think will help me to be successful,
[00:06:43.980]once I decide to enter the workplace.
[00:06:46.617]And will help me to be productive.
[00:06:49.440]Lastly, I have acquired connection with people
[00:06:53.010]in my career industry that I believe will provide me
[00:06:56.670]with guidance and advice, every time I will ask.

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2022 Rural Fellows—IANR Communications

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