I don’t worry about harvesting corn by hand or hauling
it out of the field by harness. I hope that I will be able
to make an impact in the ag industry and carry on my
family’s tradition of farming after graduation.”
In addition to his Costa Rican journey, Travis
worked for two summers with LG Seeds as a sales
intern, traveling across Southwest Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, Colorado and New Mexico.
Travis hopes to secure a career in agribusiness or
crop industry.
Melanie Barnett
A May 2014 graduate of Northwest Missouri State
University with a degree in agricultural education and
a minor in animal science, Melanie is currently the
agricultural education instructor at Northland Career
Center in Platte City.
While at NWMSU, Melanie worked at the
Nodaway County Senior Center as an office assistant in
addition to participating in activities through Collegiate
FFA and Delta Tau Alpha where she served as treasurer.
In addition, she co-founded the university’s Block and
Bridle cattle show.
Brent Boland
Brent is a December 2014 graduate of Iowa State
University with a degree in animal science. At ISU,
Brent participated in the livestock evaluation and meat
animal evaluation teams. He earned high individual
honors at the 2013 National Barrow Show, was second
in placing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo,
and was third overall at Ak-sar-ben contest.
Currently, Brent is a feed consultant for Ralco
Show Feed and a customer service representative for
Heimer Hampshires after having worked for both parttime while in college. He lives in Sweet Springs and also
helps with his family’s row crop operation.
Brendan Borman
Brendan graduated from the University of Missouri
in May 2014 with a degree in parks, recreation and
tourism. During college, he volunteered with Mizzou
Athletics in football, volleyball, swimming and golf to
gain experience in his field of study. He was also active
in Mizzou Students for Christ where he met some of his
best friends. During his senior year, he created art that
was sold in Quirks, a student consignment store.
Also during his undergraduate work, Brendan
completed internships with Columbia Golf Foundation
(CGF) and the Lincoln University Athletic Department,
where he gained hands-on experience. CGF is a nonprofit organization, introducing the game of golf to
children in Columbia and surrounding areas.
“While interning at CGF, I managed their social
media platforms, produced fundraising opportunities
for the organization, and my favorite part was hanging
out with kids while they learned such a challenging
sport,” Brendan says. CGF sponsors the Columbia
High School golf programs.
For his senior capstone, Brendan completed a
16-week internship with Lincoln University working
with compliance and game-day operations. He is
engaged to Skyler Lankford with a May 2016 wedding
planned. Licensed in the lines of property, life and
health, Brendan works as an insurance agent with an
independent agency in Fulton. He resides in Kingdom
City.
Kayla Bridgman
The equine facility manager for North Central
Texas College, Kayla attended Black Hawk College
in Illinois and West Texas A&M University, earning
a bachelor’s in equine industry and business in May
2014.
Kayla served on the horse judging team at both
colleges where her teams were named world champions
at the American Quarter Horse Association World
Show. She also competed on the intercollegiate horse
show team at both schools.
An internship with Lambert Performance Horses
in Colorado while she attended Black Hawk furthered
Kayla’s horsemanship skills as she worked with barrel
horses in the rodeo industry.
She currently lives in Gainesville, Texas.
HEARTBEAT | WINTER 2015 13