Amanda Hadden

When I envision my future, I can see it clearly. I am walking through a chicken house on my farm, checking on the birds to ensure they are healthy. I am a contract grower for a commercial chicken producer, raising birds that will feed America. It is my goal to be part of the 2% of the American population that is directly involved in farming. In order to reach my goal of restoring my great-grandfather’s farm and becoming a contract grower, after graduation I plan to work for a commercial chicken producer as a flock advisor. In this role, I’ll be able to work directly with contract growers, monitoring chick placements, bird weights, flock movements, mortality and feed inventories. In addition to assessing bird health, administering vaccinations, prescribing treatments and performing tests to identify diseases. My end goal is clear, but there are many steps that must be taken to get there. The first step is what I’m doing now – majoring in Livestock and Poultry Management at NC State. As a student, I am receiving the necessary education about poultry from professors that prior to teaching, worked in the industry. In addition to the work I’m doing in the classroom, also the hands on experience I have access to in labs. Furthering my quest for experience and knowledge, I am an active member of the Poultry Science Club, which has allowed to me to experience and be a part of events such as the Youth Market Turkey Show, NC FFA State Poultry Judging Competition and the International Production and Processing Expo. I’m in my second semester at NC State and have worked extremely hard to make connections and learn all that I can about the poultry industry. The next step of the process is securing a summer internship with a commercial chicken producer so that I can get experience in all aspects of the company – live production, hatchery, feed mill, grow out and breeders. Upon successful completion of the internship and proving myself to be hardworking and dedicated, my goal is to be a part of a company’s Management Trainee program so that after graduation, I have a year to fully immerse in a company, learning what it takes to be successful as a flock advisor. I firmly believe in the proverb which states “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way.” I have my goal and I am determined to reach it. I won’t let anything stop me from it and am willing to continue to put in the effort to see it through. Thank you for your time and consideration of my application.