I recently had the opportunity to travel to San Francisco over spring break as a part of my class ACE 199 Farm, Food, and Environmental Policy. This course focuses on agricultural policy issues in California, many of which are currently not concerns for farmers here in the Midwest. Many people, whether you grew up around agriculture or not, fail to realize that California is the largest agricultural state in the United States. In fact, if California were its own country, it would have the 7th largest economy in the world.

[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

Today our class visited with institutions that demonstrated both the seriousness and complexity of food insecurity in the Bay Area. The Alameda County Community Food Bank is an example of a local outreach organization that utilizes community participation to fight food insecurity. We were given an extensive tour of the facility and were presented with statistics about the people the food bank serves.

[From the ACE 199 "Farm, Food & Environmental Policy" experiential learning study tour, spring break 2015]

At the University of Illinois, the opportunities are endless. I found this out when I took part in the International Business Immersion Program that traveled to China this past summer. This experience was so life changing that I knew I wanted to participate in more programs like IBIP at the University of Illinois.

Ever think about studying abroad?  ACE has some terrific study abroad programs that send people to cool places around the world.  Want to see Europe? Africa? South America? Asia?  We’ve got a program for you.  I am currently enrolled in a program called IBIP (International Business Immersion Program) through ACE.  We focus on agriculture business concepts in a European setting.  In May, we are taking a 15-day trip to Greece, The Netherlands, and Belgium.

This year’s CME Trading Challenge took place in February and both Illinois ACE teams placed in the top 50 teams in the contest, which granted them the opportunity to compete in the Final Round of the competition! The CME Group’s Trading Challenge is a complimentary four-week electronic trading competition where students can trade CME Group products. The contest challenges teams of graduate and undergraduate students from around the world to participate in a simulated trading environment and ranks them based on their profitability.

My name is Jay Siegrist, and I am a junior in the Department of ACE with a concentration in Policy, International Trade, and Development. Becoming an ACE major has been one of the best decisions of my life. I have held two different internships as a result of the ACES career fair, and I will hold my third internship this summer as a grain merchandiser for the Scoular Company. Being able to utilize the ACES career fair is one of the largest assets that the College of ACES and the Department of ACE has to offer.