4-H Youth Coordinator Sees Promise in BVU Ag Instruction

Maya Rowe, a senior biology major, is excited to take what she learned through BVU's Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Resource Management and continue serving her community as a 4-H youth coordinator upon graduation.

Maya Rowe headed home for her final spring break and reported to the Sheffield Care Center to work as a CNA, a job she’s done for six years. While residing at home during the rest of the spring semester, Rowe continues her work there, taking her temperature when arriving at work, donning a mask and goggles as she helps care for some of the most vulnerable among us.

“I’m young and I can work,” she says. “I think I’m probably better off working here now than some of our CNAs, who might be a little more at risk.”

Such is the mindset this Buena Vista University senior biology major brings to work. The same mindset she brought to BVU after graduating from West Fork High School in 2016.

“I think we’ll see more and more students who want to study agriculture and participate in activities, like sports, choosing BVU. There weren’t many NCAA Division III options like that for student-athletes. It’s going to be a great fit.”

Maya Rowe

“Buenafication Day is my favorite BVU tradition,” Rowe says. “It has something to do with the time of year, because it feels so good to get outside. It also has something to do with helping the community. At BVU, we all come from different places; it’s good to focus on the community there while doing work on Buenafication Day.”

Rowe, who minors in agricultural science, begins work in June at Iowa State Extension and Outreach in Cerro Gordo County as a youth coordinator serving the county’s 4-H programs and more. An internship serving the same office in Buena Vista County piqued Rowe’s interest in the position.

“I really liked working for Nichol Kleespies (a BVU alum) in Buena Vista County; she’s great at her job,” Rowe says. “And one of my professors, Landon Sullivan (Instructor of Animal Science), used to work in Extension. He was a huge connection for me.”

As Rowe prepares for graduation, she tends to lecture notes and a research project on cattle microbiomes and the effects of select feed additives. Rowe, who has raised cattle since about kindergarten, will present findings via Zoom, rather than at the traditional Scholars Day celebration.

“I’m excited about what the Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Resource Management can do for BVU in the future,” says Rowe, who previously interned with Trans-Agra in Storm Lake. “I think we’ll see more and more students who want to study agriculture and participate in activities, like sports, choosing BVU. There weren’t many NCAA Division III options like that for student-athletes. It’s going to be a great fit.”

Rowe, who participated in track and cross country, says her greatest BVU memories simply involve the friendships she made with Beavers from all over the country.

“Having friends as freshmen that remained good friends for four years is probably my best memory,” she says. “I found friends that will last a lifetime.”

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