Growing up on farm, there was no question that I was going to major in agriculture. I attended a community college for a year, knowing I wanted to further my education at the University of Illinois through the College of ACES. It was my goal to apply and work on a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and consumer economics, focusing in marketing and management. My goal is to go back to the family soybean business, and I choose the University of Illinois to grow as a professional because of all the opportunities that are offered.

This morning as I was packing my lunch for the day, I stuck a peach yogurt with an expiration day of October 5 into my lunch box without hesitation.  It was not until I sat down at my job in the library that I realized today is October 10th.  Oskee Wow-Wow, where has the school year gone?

My name is Zach Kahley and I am a Junior in ACE with a concentration of Finance in the Agribusiness. If you were to tell me that I would be graduating from The University of Illinois in the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences I would have chuckled. After transferring here from a small college in Naperville, IL with a prior double major in Finance and Economics,

This year I have had so many opportunities through the ACE Department, where I learned so much more about the world beyond Urbana-Champaign and the Chicago Suburbs, and my career path has definitely changed. I am still unsure about my path or where I will end up one day, but I have a couple of options that I would like to explore. After going to Sierra Leone through the ACES Study Abroad Program, I have a new found passion for Agriculture. I came into U of I, to the College of ACES, and had no interest in Agriculture and had skewed perceptions of it from films like Food, Inc.

I am an ACE student concentrating in Public Policy and Law with minors in Political Science and Geography. I am currently interning for the Illinois State Senator Chapin Rose (of the 51st District) on his Communications Staff, which I hope to springboard to a political or economic internship during the summer. My true interest, however, is in foreign/international affairs and in order to attain the kind of career that I would want in that field I need to maximize my knowledge and skillset in my areas of study.

I feel fortunate to have had so many positive experiences with ACE, especially with experiential learning. In reality, it just goes to show many amazing opportunities ACE students have at their fingertips. In May, I began my summer with a trip to China with the International Business Immersion Program (IBIP)!

My study abroad excursion to Germany has left a mark on me and changed my life for the better. The biggest change is that I now can proudly say I have made life-long friends from all over the world. From the members of my program to the strangers I met, I have made so many new companions whom I plan to stay in contact with for the rest of my life.

We are gearing up for the fall semester here in Urbana.  As I prepare for what is lying ahead and what kinds of advice I'll have for this year's group of ACE students, I ran across this blog of one of our students, reminding me that growing and stretching yourself as a student is the best part of going to college.  And she learned this lesson on an ACE trip -- the International Business Immersion Program, IBIP -- www.ibip.illinois.edu.

As many of us are preparing to return to the United States this morning, we are exhausted and ready for a little time at home.  Lucy left our group last night so that she can spend her summer in her home town of Shanghai.  Veronica and Katie were continuing their summers in China with internships in Beijing @ the US Embassy and Henan Province @ OSI.  Luckily our morning didn’t have to start early.  American Airlines flight 288 wasn’t scheduled to take off until 4:10pm from Shanghai international airport; therefore we didn’t leave the hotel until 11:30am, a much appreciat

Today was a great last day of both sightseeing and company visits in China! We started off the day early and traveled 2 hours on the bus to Suzhou. In Suzhou we visited Mondelez International, the sister company of Kraft Foods. We went to their Research and Development center as well as a factory with another group of U of I students studying food science and human nutrition. We heard from a U of I alum as well as the principal scientist at the facility, Ken Tham, who shared some interesting facts about the company and the work they do.