Anthony Ames - Leadership Iowa University

Anthony Ames

Des Moines Area Community College (Boone)

I am the Northwest Vice-President of the Iowa Region of Phi Theta Kappa, the international honors society of two year colleges. I am also serving as the chapter president of the Tau Phi chapter, the Phi Theta Kappa chapter of Des Moines Area Community College Boone Campus. I am also planning to run for a position as a International Officer next year in Nashville, Tennessee at the 2012 International Convention. If I am elected, I will be the first Iowan to serve as an International Officer. After I have finished with DMACC, I am planning to transfer to the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, IA. While I am there, I will be working towards a Doctorate in Education so that I can work as a special education teacher with an emphasis in severe and profound disabilities. I am also planning on getting a minor in creative writing. I have been going to Des Moines Area Community College Boone Campus for the past two years and will be starting my third semester this fall. I started taking college credit hours during the summer of my junior year of high school and I am only nine credits away from earning my associates of arts degree.

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2012 Archives | 2011 Archives
 

College of Agriculture and Innovation

Posted on Aug 11, 2011 at 11:43 AM

Innovation has come to Iowa and made a significant change in the state. Some people outside of Iowa still believe that our state is nothing but miles and miles of land filled with cornfields. Some people that I have meet actually believe that almost all of the towns in Iowa are like what they have seen in “A Field of Dreams,” where everyone owns farmland and that we are all farmers. What they don’t see however, is the bustling metropolises that has sprung up around the state and have done amazing things not only in Iowa but in the nation as a whole. Take for example the cities around Des Moines. Here is just one part in Iowa that is home to hundreds of corporations and companies. This one city is home to companies like The Casey Corporation’s Headquarters, Iowa Soybean Association, Embria Health Sciences, and many other corporations that are doing wonders for the nation. Just a few miles away there is Pella Window Company who is honored to call Pella, Iowa their home. Also in the middle of Pella, they are proud to have the central hub for many small businesses and entrepreneurs called Many Hats. The concept behind that place is amazing because it brings small businesses together so that they are able to interact with one another and make their business grow with the help of other people going through and doing the same thing that they are. Many Hats allows small businesses to bounce ideas off of each other to help make the world a better place.

These corporations which are located right here in Iowa are impacting not only the United States but the entire world. The use of innovation has helped Iowa grow into an amazing force within the nation yet people still believe that Iowa is just a bunch of farmland. Even though Iowa does have a high percentage of land that is dedicated to farming and agriculture, people still fail to see that we have progressed in the last few years and that we have become a powerful state. Paraphrasing what Aaron Putze said during today’s lecture, “People don’t understand how necessary farming is to the world. Most people have no idea where their food comes from.” To reiterate that point he gave an example that he had heard that was from someone he encountered. This man told Aaron that, “We shouldn’t use animals to get our meat.” That comment shows that a lot of people are uneducated about where their food is from. This is why I believe programs like Iowa Food and Family Project are so vital to the innovation of Iowa. Once people see that Iowa is not just corn fields and really start to understand how important our state is to the country, then I believe that our innovation will take a huge leap towards completion. We have come a long way in the eighteen years that I have lived here and I believe, I know that we will see great things in the future.

 

Land of Opportunity

Posted on Aug 10, 2011 at 11:18 AM

We all know that Iowa has many benefits that it has to offer such as amazing agriculture and a plethora of small businesses that often times do quite well. Iowa offers many opportunities for people to reach their goals and do what their heart desires. Iowa also offers affordable housing and many chances to receive help from other people through networking. Even though Iowa has so much to offer people, I feel that our educational system is suffering. I say this because over the past few years, Iowa has slipped in ranking in the quality of education that it offers to its students. As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, during high school, I was fortunate enough to be able to take college credit courses at Des Moines Area Community College so I was able to experience firsthand how different the levels of education are. Personally, I feel that my high school did not prepare me for college very well. I say this because of many reasons that I observed during my time as a junior and senior.

One of these reasons would be that during high school I managed to get A’s in almost every course and I hardly ever had to pick up one of my books. Basically, the teacher made sure to cover everything that was going to be on a test in their class in so much detail that all I had to do was remember what they said and I would get an A. I never had to use critical thinking skills and I barely had to do my own research. They just handed out the answers. What a shock that was during my first on campus class. I remember trying my high school tactics during one of my DMACC classes and got the lowest grade that I have ever received. Needless to say, I quickly learned not to do that. Another reason that I feel that my high school didn’t prepare me for college is we hardly ever used technology. Our school had really nice Mac computers – the ones with the twenty inch screens – but all we ever did with them was learning how to change the spacing to double and font size. I feel that it was a waste to have such powerful equipment yet not learn how to use it. These are just a few reasons that I feel that my high school didn’t prepare me for college.
Considering these reasons and some of the stories that I have heard about people being bored in class or that they weren’t challenge in their education, I feel that Iowa needs to seriously reconsider its educational policy and try to utilize all of the great things that Iowa has to offer. If Iowa could successfully do this, I think that we would once again dominate the nation with our educational achievement and help create a better tomorrow for the entire community.

 

"UnEARTHing Iowa"

Posted on Aug 9, 2011 at 5:49 PM

 

One thing that I would bring to my future community would be the whole concept of the Many Hats organization. I would create a place where small businesses and entrepreneurs can get together and have a place to work that is out of the home office/ coffee shop. This organization would also allow people the chance to bounce ideas off of each other and, maybe, even help each other succeed with their goals. One thing that the Many Hats people mentioned was how one business that used the Many Hats facilities was able to connect with another business that also worked there to create a marketable product. I personally believe that if more of these places were to be created, the American Government would see a rise in the success of small businesses.
Another thing that I observed today that would be beneficial to any community was at the Pella window plant. I thought it was amazing how seamlessly the company seemed to operate and how the managers of the company actually listen to the people who are doing the job. This way, the company can better see how the company is doing and what some changes they could make are to increase productivity within the work place. Another thing that I saw this company doing was helping another company from the same town. Pella Window Company uses almost all of the wood they receive in a week but, sawdust happens. Instead of just throwing the sawdust away, the send it over to a neighboring company that will use it to create other products that can be used. I believe that the whole idea of sharing and helping each other out will make a greater difference in the way each company does business.

 

College of Human Resources - YOU!

Posted on Aug 9, 2011 at 5:22 PM

I think that the greatest asset that I could bring to the future success of Iowa would be that I am an achiever. I have always been the type of person that is very productive because I have the feeling that I should always be doing something. I find little pleasure in having free time, so I always seem to be working on one of my many projects. For example, right now, I am trying to organize a chapter meeting that I will not be able to attend; I am participating in Iowa Leadership University; I am organizing a regional event called Sibling Camp where members of Phi Theta Kappa from all over the state of Iowa will come and volunteer at a camp for children whose brothers and sisters have or have had cancer; I am finishing up my summer classes; and I am working on my second novel while I am editing my first. As an achiever, I have the ability to balance many different projects while making sure that they get finished. Another example of this happened last summer after I had finished my class at DMACC. I couldn’t stand not working on a project so I went to the library where I work and checked out a book on knitting. It took me a week to learn the basic technique and, by week two, I had already made a hat and a scarf. I always have to be doing something. I think that this would be a very beneficial thing for Iowa because I would give it my all every time I was assigned a project or needed to get something done. Then, after I had succeeded with that project, I would be trying to find something else to work on right after I had finished.

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