I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have worked as a NASDA operations intern for Spring 2025. This experience has given me incredible opportunities to learn and grow in a business professional setting.
I am an undergraduate student at American University studying international relations with a concentration in global health and environmental sustainability and prior to working at NASDA, I was interested in how food and agriculture intersected with my areas of interest. I knew NASDA’s work was important to the agricultural sector, but once I began working with NASDA’s operations team, I saw the details that go into the work. Assisting with the annual Winter Policy Conference was one of the highlights of my time at NASDA as it gave an opportunity to take a hands-on role in the planning and set up of meetings as well as working with the other NASDA interns and learning about the role of the state departments of agriculture. I was able to meet many NASDA members and gain valuable connections with people in the agriculture field. My experience as operations intern allowed me to improve my time management and skills with programs such as Microsoft applications, which I will carry into future professional settings.
The staff at NASDA made my time here so memorable. Everyone who works at NASDA is warm and welcoming and helped me transition into this internship smoothly. The NASDA community is one of the best parts of the job, I am thankful for everything that they have done to help make this experience so rewarding.
