Hello my name is Wesley Hubbard, and I am Wise County’s new VCE intern. I am a native of Wise County, born and raised in Pound, Virginia. I have just completed my first year at Berea College and my internship here is a part of my coursework for a degree in Agriculture and Natural Resources.

I have a background in agriculture, as my grandparents are lifetime gardeners and my parents own and operate a small blueberry farm in my home town of Pound. More recently I have been working at Berea College’s Gardens and Greenhouse as a part of my work-study with the college. As a first year student I was started at the lowest ranked position, which means that my main duties were harvesting, planting and composting, along with occasional maintenance, however my supervisor made every attempt to introduce me to new experiences and to help me gain new skills.

My goal with this internship isn’t just to gain more experiences with agriculture, I also hope to gain experience in all aspects of extension’s services. So far I have mainly worked with ANR agent Phil Meeks and FCS agent Emily Wells, but I am eagerly waiting the opportunity to help FNP agent Theresa Freeman and 4-H agents Hunter Romano and LeAnn Hill. I know that I still have a lot to learn before I am ready to graduate and enter the workforce, but I feel that office work is one of the areas I have the least amount of experience in. I am hoping that this internship will help me overcome this weakness as well develop valuable skills.

So far during my time here I have been working with the Grow Wise gardeners, a program funded by Grow Appalachia. Today I have been distributing seed to gardeners, taking the time to meet and learn more about each of them, while also introducing myself as a new, although temporary member of the Wise County Cooperative Extension team. The gardeners I have been in contact with so far have all been wonderful and I am looking forward to working with them this summer.