Today marks exactly one week since I got home from my fellowship at Cornell.  I am so grateful for being given that experience.  I’m hopeful too that through it, we fellows can indeed make change and inspire others to make a better world.

As I reflect on my experience, it still feels like a dream almost.  From the lab job that I thought would lead me no where, it actually has had a lasting impact on my life.  The experience of seeing the start of biotech in saving my dad’s farm has really enabled me to help educate others about this powerful tool that can help so many in the world. 

The many years of hard work growing up on the farm has also given me a huge sense of appreciation of what it means to put food on the table.  I’m lucky to have been raised a farm kid despite missing all the Saturday morning cartoons and being able to sleep in.  I’ve had my hands in the dirt and in the fields to know that it’s easy to talk farming but doing it is a whole different story.

I’m glad I had tough but loving parents who kept me focused on getting educated.  They are also fostering that in my kids by helping me while I studied up at Cornell.  They exposed me to the university experience as a young 7 year old.  My two daughters also got to see what it is like to be on a prestigious university like Cornell.  My older daughter said that she’d want to study there one day.

I’ve really had an experience of a lifetime.  I’ve met a whole new alliance of others who want the same future for their families and communities.  I am truly grateful for the experience and hope that we will change things for a brighter future.

I am blessed.  I am lucky.  We are all lucky to have the life we’ve been granted.  Move forward in appreciation and share it with others.

Happy Thanksgiving all!