Employment
Testimonial
Justin Moore, Leah Chester-Davis and Colleen McEnaney (center) discuss the N.C. MarketReady e-newsletter.
By: Colleen McEnaney, Student Intern, Summer 2010
On my first day as an intern I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of responsibility I was given. I met with Ms. Leah Chester-Davis, coordinator of communications for N.C. MarketReady, a program of N.C. Cooperative Extension which is an educational outreach of N.C. State and N.C. A&T State universities. She explained the goals of N.C. MarketReady and the recent Produce Lady grant that had been awarded. I then sat in on a Produce Lady planning meeting that allowed me to see those ideas in action, and even though I had so much to learn, I was given a writing assignment and photography work by the end of the day. I relished the opportunity to make a good first impression and was excited to see what else was in store for my internship. I continued to write and take pictures around the N.C. Research Campus over the course of the summer, giving me valuable experience that will help me in my job hunt once I head for UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall.
My favorite part of the summer was going on farm tours with the N.C. MarketReady team. The work I had been doing for The Produce Lady and other projects all began to make sense in the grand scheme of the work being done by N.C. State University at the Research Campus. Even though I spent my morning in the back of a pickup truck in 100-degree weather, I enjoyed every minute. Taking pictures and hearing firsthand from farmers about the hardships they face when competing with supermarkets made me realize how important it is to have a program like N.C. MarketReady that provides resources to help those farmers find loyal customers. I had not even realized how many thriving farmers were selling at markets in my area until our farm tours.
Tommy Barbee explains the benefits of buying local produce after our tour of Barbee Farms.
Over the course of my internship I also worked with Dr. Penelope Perkins-Veazie in her lab. Dr. Perkins-Veazie is a professor and postharvest physiologist for N.C. State’s Plants for Human Health Institute. Everyone I worked with in the lab was extremely helpful and willing to explain procedures to me. My first day in the lab was a busy one filled with sorting, bagging and classifying freshly picked blackberries. I had never eaten a blackberry or been aware of the many varieties, but by the end of the day I had three different kinds of delicious berries to bring home.
I learned that Dr. Perkins-Veazie is doing research on postharvest storage of fruits and vegetables which meant that along with the pleasant, fresh berries there were moldy berries to rate and record. Extending the shelf life of fruits and vegetables improves sales for farmers and increases the likelihood that healthy food will be enjoyed by those families. I got to sort, grind and test various fruits for sugar content, acidity and color quality. I was impressed that every weighing device and container was saved between samples. Rather than throwing them away, we washed, disinfected and relabeled them for the next set of berries or watermelon. I did not expect to enjoy working in the lab since I have always been more interested in English and history in school, but I was surprised at how interested I was in biology when it was given a practical and vital application.
As an intern, I was given the opportunity to experience N.C. State’s research from both the perspective of a scientist and that of a marketing communicator. I have a much better understanding of each element now that I have seen how they tie together and relate to the consumer and farmer. I was also able to learn about the work of other universities at the N.C. Research Campus. I visited the UNC Nutrition Institute where I was given a tour of the child psychology research areas on the first floor of the building. I observed UNC interns being trained to use nets on adults and infants to record brain waves and analyze changes based on stimuli. In the UNC building, researchers use those test results and observations to further their study of child psychology and development. Their role on the research campus is drastically different from that of N.C. State, but it was interesting to see that both psychology and plant physiology fall under nutrition research.
Overall, my time as an intern was a valuable learning experience that most recent high school graduates do not get to enjoy. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity because it allowed me to explore different career options and courses of study that I may have ignored otherwise. I am now preparing to enter college with an open mind because I realize that experiencing a career path is far more valuable than simply judging it from the classroom.
~ Colleen McEnaney, Summer 2010
