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Student Internship Experience

Doug Oberbeck

My name is Doug Oberbeck and I'm a senior agribusiness management major, graduating in December 2009.

This summer, I had the fortune of traveling around Colombia, South America, writing a research paper for Dr. Mike Cook on the structure of agricultural cooperatives in Colombia, with a focus on the National Federation of Coffee Growers.

I traveled around Colombia for three months, and it was definitely the experience of a lifetime.

I was able to visit with coffee farmers, dairy farmers, and even guinea pig farmers, and spent a lot of time interviewing various managers, directors, and farmers whom made up the cooperatives. I was even able to run a basketball clinic for 20 "campesinos," which are the rural kids growing up farming.

As somebody who loves traveling, I constantly look for opportunities like this one. I also was able to travel to Brussels, Belgium back in January for an agricultural policies seminar.

I think traveling opens us up to other cultures, and helps us to think at a global level.

Being able to participate in internships, or even just setting up independent research and studies where you have the opportunity to travel, has been one of the best ways for me to combine my love of traveling with school credit and work experience.

Posted Sept. 25, 2009