eCarly@CALS
Sam Bird - Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award Winner
by Carly Martin
This award was established in 1968 to recognize outstanding seniors. Recipients of this award must show high character, outstanding achievement in academics and community activities.
Name: Sam Bird
Major: Global Resource Systems and Economics
Minor: Political Science
Hometown: Ames, Iowa
What does it mean to you to be receiving the Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award?
I feel very grateful and fortunate to have had the opportunities and experiences during my undergraduate career to be selected for this award. Throughout my time at Iowa State, my professors and my classmates have encouraged me to pursue my passions in my studies and extracurricular activities. Without this guidance and support, many of my experiences - from organizing student participation in the World Food Prize to contributing to and attending the United Nations on Sustainable Development to researching agricultural marketing in rural Uganda - never would have been possible.
What university and community activities have you been involved with while attending Iowa State University?
Most of my activities at Iowa State have been through the international agriculture community on campus. I have been president of the ISU International Agriculture Club for two years, organizing bi-weekly meetings as well as field trips and conferences related to international agriculture. I have also been involved with the Global Resource Systems (GRS) major, first as a peer mentor for the learning community and currently as a teaching assistant and course facilitator for a seminar on the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development. During my summers, I have traveled through the CALS study abroad office as part of the Uganda service-learning program after my freshman year and then as part of the Dean's Food Leadership program in Rome after my sophomore year. This past summer I spent six weeks on an internship with a non-governmental organization in rural Uganda interviewing smallholder farmers, village middlemen, and agricultural traders about maize markets in eastern Uganda. I am also involved with the University Honors Program and the Iowa State Running Club.
What honors or scholarships have you received?
- Udall Scholar (2010)
- Iowa State Cardinal Key Honor Society, Outstanding Junior Member (2010)
- "Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges" (2010)
- National Merit Scholar (2008)
- Dean's List (2008- 2011)
- Top 2 percent of students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Member of Phi Beta Kappa and Gamma Sigma Delta
Have you been involved with any off-campus/community work while attending Iowa State University?
Through campus organizations and personal initiative I have been involved with work in the community. As peer mentor for the GRS learning community, I organized a childcare and agricultural education program for Latino/a children in Marshalltown whose parents were simultaneously enrolled in a course on organic agricultural production through Marshalltown Community College. Also, as a peer mentor I helped organize learning community fundraisers for Establish+Grow, which provides nutritional interventions and training in rural Uganda for undernourished infants and their mothers through ISU's Center for Sustainable Livelihoods. Outside of Iowa State, I was race director for a road race in Ames that raised funds for Ames High School's annual building project in Uganda.
Has there been a particular staff member or professor that you have really looked up to? If so, who and why?
One of the many influential faculty members in my undergraduate career is sociology Professor Robert Mazur. The first time we met was at the World Food Prize in Des Moines my freshman year. I needed a ride back to Ames and he offered me a ride. We had just been matched as part of the First-Year Research Mentorship through the University Honors Program, and on the ride home we talked about approaches to international development, our past experiences working in Africa and how we could make the most of the mentorship program. This first meeting with Mazur highlights a lot of the qualities that I admire in him: a willingness and desire to work with students, an impressive attention to detail and tremendous passion for his work in international development. These qualities have shown through time and again as I have had Professor Mazur as an employer for a research assistantship, course instructor, and supervisor for my senior research project in Uganda last summer.
What advice do you have for incoming freshman who want to get involved?
My first piece of advice is to draw on professors and older students in your area of study for advice. I learned a lot about courses, student organizations, and other opportunities through talking with older students and professors early in my career, and even as a senior I continue to seek advice from my professors and peers. My second piece of advice is to pursue your interests in your degree, courses and extra-curriculars. It may seem like cheesy advice, but I would not have enjoyed my college career if I were not studying something that truly excited me.
What is your future plans following graduation?
I plan to start a graduate program in agricultural and resource economics to study international development next fall.
What type of qualities/character do you think a strong leader must possess?
I think commitment is one of the most fundamental qualities of a strong leader. If you are not fully committed to your cause, no one will "follow your lead" or join your campaign, organization or initiative. Along with committing yourself to a cause, you need to be able to communicate your ideas to other people in order to get them as excited about the cause as you are. In an organizational setting, a leader must be able to express their own ideas about the topic along with being open-minded in adapting to other people's ideas. This creates opportunities for everyone to have ownership of the group and its activities and increases the number of ideas on how to improve the group's activities.