Savanna is our #LeaderBear this week. She is a Agricultural Communication major expecting to graduate in 2017. During Savanna’s first year at Missouri State University, she was selected to be a facilitator for the Student Orientation, Advisement and Registration Program during the summer of 2014. She was one of only nine freshmen chosen for this honor. This opportunity allowed her to strengthen her communication skills involving families from a wide range of backgrounds. She was an ambassador for the university supporting the three pillars of the MSU public affairs mission: community engagement, cultural competence and ethical leadership. During that same time period, she was chosen as an emerging leader and participated in our very own Commerce Bank Emerging Leaders Program. From this program she learned to effectively compliment a diverse field of co-workers. In addition to developing her leadership abilities, she also expanded her role in public relations relating to agriculture. From her speech class, she was selected to present at the Vicki Stanton Public Speaking Showcase. Her speech was titled “Organic vs. GMOs”. She has been published in the MSU Ag Review magazine and will continue writing articles about agriculture topics. Savanna is also working on reestablishing the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow chapter on campus. She can’t wait to get this new club started to help our increasing amount of agricultural communications majors find their place on campus.

We asked Savanna to share a little advice for younger students. Here’s what she had to say:

“My advice to younger students would be to get involved in every organization that you are interested in and run with it! Find something that you are truly passionate about and make that the most important part of your life. Missouri State University has so many opportunities for students to get involved and I personally have grown so much through the Commerce Bank Leadership Program and through the SOAR leader position. I can’t wait to take on more leadership positions in the future!”