Allison Kajewski

Throughout my five days at Leadership Iowa I had a great experience! I found this experience more than just advantage from those who did not attend, but I also made life long friendships with so many of the other LIU participants. I really enjoyed listening to all the speakers talk about the mistakes they made and getting the chance to learn from their mistakes. It was also really nice to find out that even though I am an accounting major, that I am not stuck in only the accounting atmosphere. We are not our majors, what a great piece of advice. I feel that it was great that there was such a wide variety of different speakers because they each taught us a different lesson and they all had different advice for us. The only thing that I would change about this experience is maybe expand the number of days it is so the days do not get so long. Otherwise there is no possible way I could say these last five days have been a waste of time. Everything that was said will only help me advance myself in my future endeavors. I am glad I got the chance to have this amazing experience, and I cannot wait to see everyone again at the end of September. I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences of my life!

Agriculture plays a big part in everyone’s life, whether or not they realize it. Being from Iowa I feel that I have a better knowledge on this impact it plays. Today we went to Iowa Soybean Association where we learned a tremendous amount about the world of agriculture and its importance to everyone in the world. I see agriculture as a huge part of my future, and I feel no matter what it will always be a part everyone’s life whether they actually are manufacturing or producing it or even eating the goods made by it. In this world it is very sad to say that world hunger will almost always be an issue especially with the exponential growth that is predicted to come. I feel that it is every fortunate person’s responsibility to help those who are less fortunate and may not have the food supply they need. This can be done in a ton of ways. I want to do many things starting now and continuing them into my future. Some of the things that I would like to do that would be involving agriculture in my future is to donate food, my time, and talents. I would actually really like to go to a third world country or even places in Iowa where the help is needed and serve and talk to the kids and families that are less fortunate. I feel this is only a small step/part of involving agriculture in my life but after hearing all the facts today I believe that it is something that will help and be appreciated more than I could ever imagine.

Iowa needs to improve its appeal to others. It is a very good place and live and grow up, and the people who were born here know that. The thing is though is that no one else knows that until they have experienced Iowa first hand. I do not know first hand what Iowa needs to do specifically to get this, but they do need to figure it out. Another thing is they need to get know for more than their agriculture products so it will help bring in others that are not interested in the agriculture field. Other than this Iowa is a great place to raise a family and it has tremendous growth possibilities. So to recap: Iowa needs to become more appealing to the outside world on first hand rather than second hand. Also they need to figure out what they can do to become less known just for their agriculture products and more for business opportunities. Because Iowa has a lot to offer and top communities for these things to happen in.

Today at Leadership Iowa University we went and toured the Capitol, ventured to Pella and while there we toured Pella Corporation, a co-working office, a winery, and dinner at a local restaurant. At these different locations, we did a lot of networking and learning about each and every business and how they operate. In my future career I would like to be able to take things from each one of these businesses we visited today. In a future occupation I would want my company to be big, but still be able to know and have relationships with a large sum of the workforce there. This is how Pella Corporation ran. The way they get to know everyone is by asking employees what they want for improvements and anything else. Also they have built up a trusting relationship while getting to know their employees, which I find as a big thing because you want to be able to trust that your employees are doing what they say they are.

From the co-working office of Veel Hoeden I really like that you can just go down the hall for help in a certain area in something that may not be your strong suit. This is very nice because the small businesses that are located in the co-working offices are of different job markets so they are not in competition with the other businesses there. By having all of those resources right down the hall, it can do nothing but improve your own company.

I really enjoyed networking with a lot of different business people at the winery. They were able to give us pointers in what they do and do not recommend doing in the world. This was nice because we are now learning from their mistakes instead of having to make them ourselves. With that, it will save you (us) a lot of wasted time and money because we already know the right path to go.

Then last stop we made for the day was Sports Page, where we met with the Rotary Club of Greater Des Moines. This networking opportunity showed all of us Leadership Iowa University participants that volunteer work is very beneficial, not only to those who are being helped but also to you; knowing that you are doing better for someone/something that really needs it. They informed us that this will only help make more connections to business leaders as well as help get a better job. The Rotary Club informed us that when cash donations are made they are received by another Rotary Club that will make sure the money is getting used for the right purposes. This is FANTASTIC because it helps people know that the money they are taking the time to donate is in fact going to a cause in need. The Rotary Club actually sees through the whole operation and keeps other Rotary Clubs informed on the progress of that community service project! This day (I am not going to lie.) was a long one, but it was filled with all kinds of helpful hints and tips that we will all take with us into our careers.

Throughout this week at Leadership Iowa University I would like to contribute my ideas, thoughts, and opinions. I believe that by giving my opinions I will be able to help collaborate ideas to make the most out of this experience as possible. I would like to be a key leader in this leadership program to help contribute to my future successes. I would like to bring these leadership skills that I learn throughout this week back into Iowa. After settling into a job and getting comfortable in the field I choose to undertake, I would like to someday take that and start my own company. If my dreams pan out this way, I hope sometime after my company has been underway for a few years and I have built up clientele I would really love for my company to expand into a large size firm. If this would happen for me it would be AWESOME! One thing is though, I do know that I will need the leadership skills that I will be taught this week her at Leadership Iowa University. I plan on taking these skill sessions that have been provided for us very seriously because the more I pay attention today, the more it will benefit me in the future. I would like to finish this first blog post off by saying thank you for choosing me to be a participant in the 2011-2012 Leadership Iowa University Class.