Lauren Riback

Personal Portfolio

Howdy! My name is Lauren Riback. I am a senior Agriculture Science major in the

College of Agricultural & Life Sciences at Texas A&M University preparing for a career as a

high school Agriculture Teacher. 2017-18 will complete the remainder of my agricultural

studies, and I am planning to student teach spring 2018. I recently received the Corps of Cadets

Hollingsworth Academic Certificate in Leadership Studies. Upon graduation in May 2018, in

addition to my teaching certification, I will also have an Agronomy minor, and the ability to

communicate in American Sign Language.

In addition to the numerous commitments in the Corps of Cadets, I have participated in

many other activities. These include playing on both the Ladies Corps Intramural Basketball

Team and my unit's Co-Ed Intramural Basketball Team. I was the head of the decorating

committee for the annual "Holiday on the Quad," and have donated hand-made blankets for two

years to Project Linus through the C.O.A.L.S. "Build the Heck Out of Blankies" drive for

children and youth in crisis.

As a native Oregonian, I grew up in the greater Willamette Valley in many diverse rural

agricultural environments. While I never had the opportunity to reside on a working farm as did

both sets of my great-grandparents and grandparents, I became involved in agriculture through

numerous years in the Clackamas County 4-H program and Molalla FFA Chapter.

As a member of 4-H for nine years and FFA for four years, I competed in a varied array

of 4-H projects, FFA Career Development Events (CDEs), and Supervised Agriculture

Experiences (SAEs) activities at the county/district, sectional, state, and national level. I served

in several leadership and officer positions, and was a delegate at both National 4-H Congress and

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the FFA Washington Leadership Conference. My agricultural high school experience culminated

with receiving my FFA American Degree in 2014.

I spend my summers working full-time as a welder fabricating steel structures, and as an

agriculture intern to help pay my way through college. Following student teaching in spring

2018, my plans are to become a high school Agriculture Education teacher and FFA advisor. My

goals are to educate high school students not only with the knowledge to help produce more food

in a changing global environment, but also how to be competitive in a global market place

utilizing FFAs career development and supervised agriculture experience programs. I do not

have a preferred school size because I can adapt to any situation.

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Educational Profile

I interviewed my Concert Choir teacher, Mr. Friesen, so see what sort of student I was

back in high school. We each talked about how our lives were going and what success we had

accomplished since we last spoke. As I asked Mr. Friesen questions on the student I was in high

school, I started to reminisce over the experiences and life lessons I learned in high school. His

opinion of what I was like was very close to my own.

We discussed how I was incredibly hard working and how I never gave myself any down

time. That was expected considering I involved in FFA, 4-H, dance team, basketball team, and

his competition concert choir, in addition to my honors classes. I always wanted to be better.

That applied to both being better than myself and everyone else. This attitude made me very

competitive and passionate about my work, but didnt help me in making friends or very popular.

I was also very opinionated, direct, and stuck to my values. People came to me when they

wanted an honest answer, regardless if it was the answer they wanted to hear.

I would work so hard that I began setting standards for every other student and pushing

them to try more. Which again didnt make me very popular. I was stubborn but not a trouble

maker. I was more of a trouble finisher because I was not afraid to fight back when someone

pushed me too far. Everyone knew my voice was louder and carried more than anyone elses in

the school.

My favorite courses were physical education, choir, math, and of course all my

agriculture classes. In physical education I was able to take all my energy and apply it to make

actively improve my coordination, skills, and body. It was also to relieve any stress or frustration

that had built up during the day. Choir allowed me to explore my musical passions, while also

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helping me create relationships with people who shared similar opinions and values. I would

challenge my knowledge and patterning skills in math class. By senior year I was taking calculus

2 and was even able to count the class towards college credit. Lastly, my agriculture science

classes were my favorite of the day. In metals and construction, I found my passion for welding.

I loved being able to use my hands, creativity, and knowledge to design, cut, and build anything I

wanted. I would even skip lunch period to work in our agricultural mechanics laboratory. All

other agriculture science class took place off central campus at a facility called the land lab.

There we had two classrooms connected to a garage, three 50-foot green houses, two small barns

for livestock, and one barn for equipment.

Ms. Blair taught all the classes out at the land lab and I took almost every single one. She

was the teacher I respected and connected with the most. She pushed her students to always be

better and assisted them if they needed it. She is the person who inspired me to become an

agriculture science teacher.

As I reflect on what I was like as a student, I realize that I want to be teacher that always

pushes her students to become a better version or themselves. I want to help guide them through

life lessons and hopefully help them find their passion.

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Professional Profile

As an agriculture science teacher, it is important to be flexible and willing to learn new

skills. Some of my strengths in the classroom are public speaking, problem solving, and

multitasking. All are very important skills to have in the classroom. Some skills I need to work

on technical writing and being overly competitive.

After taking the VARK Learning Styles questionnaire, my learning preference is equal

parts kinesthetic and visual. The kinesthetic part of myself take in information through all of my

sensessight, touch, taste, smell, and hear. Using hands on approaches that may involve

laboratories, field trips, and real-life applications. To learn deeper concepts I take the content, I

add examples or refer back to the experience that taught me the knowledge to begin with. The

visual side of me take in information best through the use of picture, videos, graphs, posters,

diagrams, and underlining with different colors. I have to take the content, replace words with

symbols or reconstruct images in different ways. For testing purposes, I recall images rather than

words and I rather draw a diagram than explain it.

After taking the 16-personalities analysis, I found that I have an executive personality.

This didnt surprise me. To further brake down my profile I am 74 percent extraverted, 51

percent observant, 85 percent thinking, 54 percent judging, and 74 percent assertive. All of these

qualities describe me very well. I am aware of my surrounding and have a clear view of the

world based on previous knowledge I learned. I am constantly building teams and bring people

together. Sometimes standing up for what is right isnt always the popular vote, but I am not

afraid to do it. Some of my strengths are dedication, organized, strong-willed, honest, reliable,

and loyal. My weaknesses include difficulty expressing emotions and being relaxed, too focused,

judgmental of others, and being stubborn. I can address conflict head on, but this can make

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others uncomfortable because of my direct approach and such high self-confidence. Although

this quality is valued in the work place, it can make relationships with others more difficult.

After taking the Multiple Intelligences for Adult Literacy and Education assessment to

find my strengths, I found out that my top three intelligences are kinesthetic, naturalist, and

musical. My number one was kinesthetic. I have always been a very active person. I truly believe

in the quote I can sleep when Im dead. Having constant movement, challenges, and learning

gives me the thrill in my life. By incorporating movement into my learning process, I retain

information better. Naturalist was my second intelligence. Being outdoors allows me to feel

connected with the world. I think everything has a spirit and that we are all connected. My

naturalist side helps me stay grounded in my teachings and able to connect with my students.

Musical is my third intelligence. Singing helps me share my emotional side. It doesnt matter if

its a song on the radio or if I make it up myself. One way I like to incorporate music into my

lessons is I make up my own rhymes or even a rap. I also play classical music while I work and

study, especially when Im learning material.

As a prospective teacher I can use this knowledge about myself to fix my weaknesses,

use my strengths, and hopefully help my students learn better.