On Tuesday of this past week, I got to go to Iowa State University and give a presentation to the Collegiate Beef Team. It was such a fun time!
I graduated from Iowa State several years ago, so I was excited to get back to Ames and see everything. One of my favorite places to eat was Hickory Park. So Mom (who kindly agreed to go with me) and I stopped there first. The only “had to have” item on the menu was the brownie sundae. Which we actually ordered and ate first. Lol. It was delicious! We also ordered a sandwich which was also very tasty, but the sundae was definitely the highlight.
Our original plan for the afternoon had been to leave early and go to Reiman Gardens before our 6:00 presentation. But we didn’t leave in time for that to happen, so we decided we would just have to go back another time!
To kill the hour or so we had between our meal and our presentation, we drove around Ames and checked out the apartment Beck and I used to live in, the campus, and the north side of town. It was so fun to see all the old places, and to check out all the new ones. Wow. There has been a lot of building in the last 15 years!
Our presentation was in Kildee Hall which also happened to be where I used to work. So we got to campus early and checked out the old ultrasound lab. (Did you know carcass ultrasound got its start at Iowa State? And that Beck and Craig were the first lab managers?) Anyway, the offices were just like I remembered them. I don’t know if they still study ultrasound images in there, but it was fun to walk down memory lane nonetheless.
Then it was time to find our classroom and get ready for the presentation. I was nervous! But this group of students was amazing. We were there early so we got to visit with several students and learn a little about their operations before I gave my talk so that helped immensely. They were all just so kind! And we even got to see Caleb (our fellow Ringgold County resident who worked for us this summer) and visit with him, so that was fun.
I gave my talk on feed efficiency and ultrasound. And I just can’t say enough good things about this group. They asked very intelligent questions, they acted interested in the subject matter, and I just left with a very optimistic outlook for the future of agriculture. I can’t thank them enough for allowing me the opportunity to present to them.
What a great day!!