“Celebrate the past to awaken the future,” –John F. Kennedy

With it being this time of year, I sat down and realized how much I have to be thankful for. Whether it is the friends and family, I surround myself with, or the opportunity to be receiving an education at the University of Illinois, I consider myself to be a pretty lucky person. Ever since I was a baby, I have been able to call this place home. One could even say that I grew up in the Fighting Illini orange and blue. 

As I reflect back on the wonderful Thanksgiving break I enjoyed at home with my family; I can’t help but think of the many things I have to be thankful for.  To name just a few of those things:  friends, family, clothing, shelter, and an abundance of food.  While preparing to write this blog post, I realized something that I forgot – education! 
 

As we return to school following Thanksgiving break, we all have plenty to be thankful for. Personally, I am extremely thankful for being able to help out on a successful corn and soybean harvest on my family’s farm near Washburn, IL. Although I was only around to help out with harvest on the weekends, it was well worth the hour and fifteen-minute drive to work with my dad and 91-year-old grandpa who is still very much involved in the farming operations. My grandpa has been a great role model to me throughout my life.

On Friday, October 30th, I woke up bright and early and made my way to the ACES library at 7 am, to board a bus to go to Chicago. I was with about 30 other students on our way to Financial Planning Day in Chicago. We arrived at the Hyatt and listened to four students from the School of Labor and Employment Relations give us interview tips. We sipped on our coffees while taking notes. After this, business professionals started arriving, and we all started mingling. There were fee-only planners, insurance-based companies, brokerage firms and more!

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to travel to Boston, with my academic adviser Theresa Miller and seven other students in the financial planning concentration, to attend the FPA BE Boston Conference this last September. I served as a student volunteer at the largest gathering of CFP professionals in the world. By attending to various duties such as scheduling appointments at the business coaches’ booth and scanning professionals’ badges to keep track of the lectures they attended for CEE credit, I was able to gain more insight than I could have imagined.

When I came into the ACE department my freshman year, I knew that I wanted to create a career in the agricultural industry, but I wasn't sure exactly where I fit in. I had interests in careers with animals, crops, and equipment. But I didn't want to pick an area of study in just one of those fields. In ACE, I've learned business skills and economics to prepare me for wherever my career would take me. 

Homecoming 2015. Perfect tailgating weather. Great food. Friends and family. But not just the usual friends and family you see at tailgates. Old friends and family appearing as proud alumni. Homecoming is the one time you can count on seeing all your favorites in one place.

Study Abroad! This is the best advice that I can give to prospective and current students. Luckily for me I am an ACE student, so it was very easy for me to find a program and work classes into my schedule. I think this was one of the biggest advantageous that being and ACE student has afforded me. Both my freshman and sophomore years I was dead set against studying abroad. I thought I came to U of I for a reason; I want to stay here and soak up everything that it has to offer.

As a senior, I am currently knee deep in full-time job applications. The University of Illinois invests so much time in career development. I have gone to two career fairs this semester with more than one hundred employers there eager to meet students from the University of Illinois.  In addition to the structured career fairs, there are always employers on campus meeting students in classrooms, club meetings, or at company information sessions. A University of Illinois education is something that employers seek out because of the valor of the students here in attendance.