Perspective

By Michael Kelsey

 

How do you calculate the value of something? Is it what you paid for it? Is there a depreciation or appreciation schedule attached? Is it what you would sell it for? Do you include the worth that you received while you used it? How about the opportunity costs (all you ag economics guys rejoice)? Just how do you calculate the true value of something?

While visiting with a close friend the other day, we discussed our good ol’ college days. We attended different institutions and our degrees are very different. Mine is in agriculture and his is in business. I asked him who his advisor was. He couldn’t remember. I asked if this was purposeful or if he just plain forgot. Neither, he said. He simply only had use for his advisor’s signature at enrollment time. In the spirit of fairness, he reciprocated the questions to me. Of course I remember my advisor –Dr. Bob Kropp! We stay in touch via e-mail. When we see each other, we pick back up where we left off the last time we saw each other. He found my first job for me. He has served as a reference for every job I have ever applied for. He is more than just my advisor, he is my friend. “Why?” my friend asked me.

My friend could not imagine why a college faculty member would spend so much time on a student. He suggested that I must have been a special student, an apprentice maybe? Not really. Dr. Kropp can tell you where most of his students are and what they have done. I would bet he has written more than 10,000 letters of reference – at least five for me that I can think of and all of them were up-to-date and relevant, not form letters.

The real value of my education became clear to me some time after that conversation with my friend. I concluded that it is far more valuable than what I paid for it and far more than what I am “selling my schooling” for today. Quite frankly, there is no way I could even begin to calculate the appreciation schedule.

Agriculture education is a unique culture, don’t you agree? The people we encounter are more than just signatures and faces. They are associates, connections, they are friends. The relationship isn’t one of convenience, rather it is a bond as strong as family. Long after graduation, students gather and share stories and sometimes secrets of glory days that involve classroom and “extracurricular” experiences. Between their actual occurrence and the reminiscing of the stories, these friends share many more experiences. The connection is longer than four years, bigger than the campus and stronger than any brick building.

Maybe that is why NC’s affinity for the UNL Department of Animal Science is so strong. It was more than just earning a degree, it was an experience that includes friends and colleagues. I have watched in admiration as our leaders have worked tirelessly to promote higher learning. That effort is more than just the importance of research to our industry, although that alone is worth it. The effort is more than just the importance of a quality education to our young people, although again, that alone is worth it.

It is about value. The true value of a college is not measured in grant dollars or number of published journal articles. It isn’t really measured in number of students involved or awards faculty has won. Are those important? Absolutely! But long after classes dismiss, the educational program concludes and the research is published, people – friends – will express the real value of their agriculture education by working together, defending each other and promoting their livelihoods with unified values. Not because they share the same shirt color, but because they share a common purpose.

Red cap with a big “N” … $20. College textbook … $200. Research project … $200,000. Agriculture education experience … priceless! Y Michael Kelsey is NC’s executive vice president.