By Ellen Bombela, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Communications Service
Lauren Rosburg understands the stress that can come along with showing animals. She started showing calves when she was in second grade. While showing, she would often look toward others for guidance when she was having an issue.
As one of the interns for the 2018 Arizona Livestock National Show held Dec. 26-31 in Phoenix, her hope is to help participants working with animals in the show have a stress free, enjoyable time. It’s the largest livestock show in the southwest.
“I wanted to work at the Arizona Livestock National Show because of how the show treats the people there,” said Rosburg, a sophomore majoring in animal science and agriculture communications. “During the interview process, they stressed that although we will have specific tasks as interns, our first priority should be tending to the needs of others.”
Some of those responsibilities could include things such as giving directions, offering advice or showing support for someone trying to work through an issue with their animals.
Growing up, Rosburg knew the feeling of being stressed on show days and not being able to find a helping hand.
“It’s a very stressful environment because you are trying to get both yourself and your animal ready for the show, and sometimes when people aren’t helpful, it can put a real downer on the whole experience,” Rosburg said. “My hometown is Gilbert, Iowa, and something I’ve learned from growing up in a great community and participating in 4-H is that everybody is stressed, so if you can go out of your way to help even just one person improve their experience, you may make a permanent impact on their outlook toward shows.”
On top of customer service, Rosburg’s job duties will include helping set up for the show, taking photos, talking to people in the barns, managing the Facebook page and writing six feature stories for the show.
“My first role while working the show will be customer service and making sure that the people showing have the best experience possible.”
Rosburg will be working with seven other interns, whose duties vary from communications to graphic design and photography. She is looking forward to the show, but also looking forward to expanding her professional network with peer interns and livestock professionals.
“I’m excited to learn how people run such a large show and see behind the scenes of what is going on,” Rosburg said.
Rosburg will use skills that she has learned from her current job to write the stories for the livestock show. She works as a communications assistant for the animal science department. She manages six Facebook pages, an Instagram account and helps write stories for the monthly and weekly newsletters.
December 14, 2018