125 Years of Experiential Learning with Darian

Transcript

Now, it’s time to meet a future cattle rancher, Darian. Darian will be graduating soon with a degree in agribusiness. He came to DelVal knowing exactly what he wanted and boy, did he find it here? Darian.

Hey, y’all, I’m an agriculture business major looking to get into the Cattle Industry. Working my way up to becoming a cattle rancher. I first heard of DelVal through one of the football coaches on the football team who asked if I was interested in coming for a visit. One of the first questions I asked was, do y’all have any Ag majors here on campus? He said, that’s what Delaware Valley is known for, is their great Ag program.

After doing my own research, I learned that Delaware Valley was founded at the National Farm school in 1896. We’re celebrating our hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary this year. It has gone from an all male school to a very diverse campus with people from all over the country. Delaware Valley has given me a chance to find out who I want to be and has opened my mind up to seeking new opportunities. One of the requirements here on campus is the E360 Program. This is where students must apply for an internship. Since I’m trying to get into cattle ranching, I chose an internship in Florida at Deseret Ranch. This happens to be one of the largest cattle operations in America with 300000 acres, 40000 head of cattle.

As an African-American male in the Ag Industry, there’s not too many of us on the Northeastern side of the country. This is a great opportunity for me to experience. While I was in Florida, I met another black cowboy. This was the first time of my life that I worked with somebody who looked like me and shared the same dream. If I had never done the E360 Program, I would have never gotten to experience this.

Delaware Valley has an abundance of clubs and organizations that you can join. This is a great way to meet new people that share similar interests as you. I’m a part of AGR, which is the Ag fraternity here on campus. And I’m a part of MANRRS, which is a minority club of students, that are in science or Ag Department. These organizations have given me a lot of opportunity to better myself as a person. I was very fortunate to get an interview with the Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture. We got to talk about MANRRS and why it’s important that there’s diversity in agriculture. This is a great way for me to speak about my passion for the industry and spark others who were interested in agriculture.

I hold the recruitment chair for AGR, which has taught me how to be more responsible and how to become a better leader. Another great way to get involved on campus is Activities Day, also known as A Day. A Day is a big event we host here at DelVal that is open to the public. A Day host of livestock show, which is open to all students, who get the experience showing a livestock animal. I got the opportunity to show a beef steer, which was a really cool experience. Well, yo, I’m glad I got to share my experience here at DelVal and I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for letting me share my story. What’s next, Alex?

Great job, Darian. We have a feeling you’re on the path to being a successful cattle rancher. An A Day sounds like an amazing event. I understand that thousands of people from the community come to campus for this entirely student run event. It’s incredible. Thanks to that Darian.