Kevin Brodersen

Another great tour was offered today by Leadership Iowa University, we had the opportunity to head up to Ankeny and visit the Iowa Soybean Association, along with the tour we met some fantastic guest speakers that had a very good insight to the agriculture side of Iowa. Knowing little about agriculture myself this opportunity was a great learning experience for me. The beginning of the lessons involved great information on Iowa as a whole and what they bring to the state as far as farming is concerned; Iowa is the 2^nd leading state in agriculture producing most products in eggs, pork and corn. I also learned about the growing demand for food around the country and internationally. I think the priorities of American citizens should be to overcome and help families in need in our own country, my heart goes out to all other nations severely affected by the lack of resources to feed the members in their country. For the future of Iowa I would love to see more information given to the rest of the nation, and Iowa to receive a lot more credit. The most inspirational experience I’ve had during Leadership Iowa came from the presentation given by Jim Verlengia, his upbeat personality and down to earth stories and experiences hit most everyone on a deeper level.  His experiences and his talent for reaching people is almost second to none, I really hope to see him again and am looking forward to keeping in touch with him.

Day 2 of Leadership Iowa and I have to say, it has completely caught me off guard already. The tours today of the State capitol, Pella Corporation, Hats off, Tassel Ridge winery and as well as meeting all the people involved in these as well as rotary. These companies and services are a great asset to the state of Iowa and to their respected communities. The Pella Corporation is outstanding as far as the function of manufacturing, having a little experience in this field with working in a manufacturing plant; Pella seems to have all the right ideas and great employees working for the better good of each other and not just money. Pella has a sense of pride you don't see in a lot of companies not within just their "office employees" that some workers believe get all the credit and only care about themselves, but seemingly as well as their line workers, their want to meet everyone’s needs and catering to each individual is a great way to keep your company performing at a high level. Pella also gives back to their community in offering money to Central College and involving small town restaurants within Pella the opportunity to cater lunch for them on a daily basis. This is something I would want for myself if i were running a company. My meeting at Tassel Ridge Winery was also a great experience, having a social gathering like this is a great way for professionals to come and meet in a more relaxed environment and network themselves, maybe meet someone that will be an asset to them later in their career. Having a place like a winery to come and meet and be involved in great conversation is something every community needs. I've meet some very interesting people so far during this program, coming in with an open mind, I had no idea what to expect. This has definitely been one of the best experiences in my life and I can't wait to continue this path of growing my knowledge and meeting new people that have a very selfless mindset.

My greatest contribution to the future success of Iowa would definitely be my past. I grew up in a very low income family with a single mother of three kids by the age of 21. I have endured many hardships especially in the area of finance. With three mouths to feed and one income I've witnessed my mother make poor finance choices causing many problems throughout my childhood such as being evicted from several homes, cars being repossessed, not having the finances to eat some weeks. There were times that my mother would spend money on the finer things and neglect the necessities of life. These are all struggles a lot of Iowa families and families around the nation are facing today. Poor choices, lack of education, never being held accountable in some cases or money for advice is a huge cause of these problems. My past experiences with this type of lifestyle along with one of my top 5 strengths being empathy, I can reach out to families in need and advise them on how to budget and give them the proper advice they will need to make the right decisions. I find it easy to relate to people and reach them on a different level that most people won't, regardless of status. I've found something like that is hard to come by. Another one of my strengths is responsibility. I have always been one to take complete responsibility for my actions and always held accountable. With this strength, I can help families that maybe haven't been held accountable see that they're the ones that have made these decisions and they are also the ones that can change their current situations with a little bit of an open mind and a motivation to want to change. My experiences have led me towards this ultimate goal, and this degree. It is a great fit and I’m looking forward to being a great contribution not only to the state of Iowa but even on the nation as a whole.