From the Desk of Prosperity’s Summer Intern, Rachel Bayless:

I am certainly getting practice writing. This internship is giving me the opportunity to practice many different writing styles. Already today I have written a press release, drafted emails to go out to clients and to state offices, and here I am writing a blog. I’m getting practice writing letters to politicians. In addition I’m learning the power of research to go along with writing. Coming into this internship I didn’t know too much, and I still don’t know too much. So I’ve got to read a little bit so that I appear to know what I’m talking about!

As I’ve mentioned and you may already know, the deadline for the 2011 REAP grant application is June 15. That is very close. Last year there were 80 REAP grants written here at Prosperity, and although I’m not sure of the current count, I’m sure there are that many or more this year. Tuesday was when we required clients to have all of their information in for us to work on. And with the farmers all being so busy right now, there is definite a last minute rush. I enjoy it though. Being busy lets me know that I’m being productive. The last thing I want from an internship is to sit idly and learn nothing at the end of the summer.

Once this June 15 deadline has passed, Prosperity is taking a couple of days off. Then when we get back to the office on June 20, I get to jump into a sales/marketing project, which I am looking forward to. My major is sales and marketing. I have taken a really good sales class and worked a little with sales, but I haven’t gotten much of an opportunity yet to work on marketing. I’m eager to learn exactly how to begin such a project, as it will be a very career-preparing experience. The project will be based on Sarah’s books. She currently has two published: Starting & Running Your Own Small Farm Business and The Profitable Hobby Farm. I’ve put together some businesses that may be interested in selling her book, and I will be doing a little more preparation this week so that I will have a good starting point to start talking to prospects. The books certainly have an audience eager to read them. A woman my dad works with has already zipped through The Profitable Hobby Farm, her interest brought on by raising chickens at her home.

After four full weeks of interning at Prosperity Ag & Energy Resources I am learning a lot and preparing for a career (which is, scarily enough, just a couple years away!).

photo by Rachel Bayless