Walterhoefer posing with the community learning garden layout map outside the community learning garden.
While most students were packing up their things and getting ready for all of their summer adventures, Brandy Walterhoefer was getting ready to spend her summer here, at College Park, as an intern for the Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA). Walterhoefer got to work with and post social media for the IAA, attend recruitment events and much more. The sophomore believes it was a very rewarding internship where she got to learn many beneficial things which she will be able to use in her future career. Walterhoefer’s internship counts for credits toward achieving her certificate in Agricultural Communication and Leadership.
Walterhoefer is currently in her second year at the IAA. She grew up in Ellicott City, Maryland, always knowing she wanted to work in a career that benefited others in a positive way. During her internship at the IAA she had many responsibilities including giving campus tours to visitors and potential IAA students. She created a self-guided tour of the community learning garden and even submitted a grant proposal to get funding to print the tour materials.
She also learned many new things, such as, how to use InDesign and Adobe Illustrator. Walterhoefer’s advisor, Heather McHale, states, “She had to learn new skills in order to make the layout map, and she collaborated with IAA faculty member Meredith Epstein to get the information she needed.” Walterhoefer was able to use skills from Oral Communication, Agricultural Marketing and Computer Applications and apply them in the real world. During the process of Walterhoefer’s internship, she got the chance to work close with Becky Jones, Glori Hyman, Carol Dingess and Heather McHale, who all supported her entirely, and helped her succeed throughout the entire internship.
After Walterhoefer completed her internship she stated, “It was a good way to get hands on learning and use everything I had learned through my classes in the real world. I realized how much I’ve learned and how much I still need to learn.”
All of Walterhoefer’s new experiences will allow her to go on to continue her time at the IAA and apply what she has learned in a positive way. She is continuing her second year at the IAA in Agricultural Leadership and Communication; then, she plans go on to achieve her bachelor’s degree at the University of Maryland.
