Guest Voices: A Reflection on Attitude

Welcome to the first edition of Guest Voices! I’m excited to share this piece from one of my good friends and fellow Salukis. Read on for a little bit of background on this week’s author and enjoy his lesson for this week.

Hello, I am Chase Howell and I am from Williamsfield, Illinois where I grew up in FFA and helped work on my best friend’s family farm. I went to Black Hawk College East for Agricultural Business and Production where I had the opportunity to judge soil and work under my mentor at West Central FS. Through soils judging, FFA and FS, my passion for soil science and agronomy grew intensely. I then transferred to Southern Illinois University where I earned my bachelors in Crop, Soil, and Environmental Management, where I continued my soil judging career and started my path in the Illinois Farm Bureau. I am currently working on my masters degree in Plant, Soil, and Agricultural Systems where I get to coach the soils judging team and TA the Intro to Soils class. I have really enjoyed my time teaching and coaching soils here at SIU and I hope to someday teach introductory soil science and agronomy at a community college. I am also blessed to be engaged to my fiancee Gracie, who always pushes me to be better. Through my time in soil judging, FFA, West Central FS, and Farm Bureau, I have had amazing opportunities for personal growth and professional development. I am beyond thankful for those who have helped me in my journey and made an everlasting impact on me. Like my mentor has always taught me, I aspire to make an impact on those around me and create opportunities for people, like the ones created for me. Making that impact requires constant personal growth and an open mind. Luckily, Miriam’s Substack provides those opportunities. Reading her substack allows me to pause from the world around me and read her thoughts. Most of the time, these reads lead to personal challenges that allow me to grow and challenge myself. These Substacks of Miriams truly make an impact on those who read and I am very grateful for the impacts they have made on me.

We all have those weeks of waves created of pure craziness, where we struggle to keep our heads above the water. Then we complete a project or accomplish a goal we set out to. All the hecticness is complete and we finally feel afloat again. Then, a few days go by, or even just one day, and the waves start again. You’re swamped and the waves are crashing even harder. Eventually, it feels like we are stuck in those waves and trying to out-swim the sharks swimming in them. • • ​I, too, was having one of those weeks, where I felt beaten and battered, like the sharks had caught me. I was running around like crazy, trying to work on research projects, prepare soil judging material, and work on schoolwork. When I finally got the chance to sit down for five minutes, I saw a sticker on my computer my father had given me. It was a smiling man with his thumb up, ridin’ in a shark’s mouth, saying “stay positive.” I chuckled and thought of my dad and how I missed him. I then looked at a toy tractor a friend gave me, a picture of my fiancée, and a paintbrush from the SIU Collegiate Farm Bureau “sweep” that I had on the desk. I then began to think about all the blessings my father has given me. All the blessings my family and friends have given me. All the blessings the Lord has given me. ​How could I feel like I am in the shark’s mouth when I have all these blessings and opportunities? Instead, I began to think, “Why am I in the shark’s mouth?” It dawned on me that I was there to make an impact on those around me, seize opportunities, and give back to those who have provided for me. Thinking about these things allowed me to ride in the shark’s mouth, rather than let the shark catch me. Embrace the chaos because that is what defines you. Not letting the waves waterboard you, but boogie boarding on them, and if you don’t have a boogie board, I guess you’d better hop in that shark’s mouth and ride it out. ​We all have moments where we feel like the shark has gotten to us, but we must remember how many blessings we have received and the opportunities we get to cease. Remember the impacts and opportunities provided for us and strive to provide them for others. So just remember, when the waves of hecticness are coming and sharks are storming, hold your thumb up, say “stay positive,” and just start ridin’ the shark’s mouth. One Thing DifferentlyWhat’s one thing in your life you need to shift your perspective on? What’s one way you can make that shift? A huge thank you to Chase for contributing to this Guest Voices edition! Leave a comment and show him some appreciation this week. Leave a comment