Veteran LeRoy Robinson worked an outreach event during his six-month internship at USDA that allowed him to work at headquarters in Washington, D.C. and in a state office in Richmond, Va.
By LeRoy Robinson
How does a guy with a medical background end up working in agriculture?
That was the question I asked myself after beginning a non-paid internship with USDA. The internship started in January after speaking with my rehabilitation counselor at the Department of Veterans Affairs. After working as a radiologic technologist for the Air Force, this was a 180 degree change. For some reason a personnel security position within the Farm Service Agency (FSA) stood out. I thought it would be interesting so I connected with FSA’s veteran program coordinator in Washington D.C. and set up an interview.
I interviewed with the director of the Emergency Preparedness Division and was eager to start, but my commute from the Richmond, Va., area would only allow me to work two days a week. After talking for a while he told me about a position closer to home that would entail working at the FSA’s State Office in Richmond, Va. After giving it some thought I said I would give it a try but I also would be available to help out in his section as well because I was truly interested in gaining more experience in personnel security. But to my surprise, after interviewing in the state office, I chose to work in Public Affairs and Outreach. So instead of working in one location I decided to work in two, doing two totally different tasks.
From my first day the staff welcomed me and made to feel like part of the team at the Virginia State Office and Emergency Preparedness Division (EPD). The internship gave me an opportunity to see the difference between working in the national office and the state office. I was able to see how a directive is crafted at the national office and then implemented at the state level.
Working in Public Affairs allowed me to observe interactions between farmers and FSA staff in field offices. It was interesting to see how closely loan officer’s work with farmers and how measures are put in place to help farmers. Employees in the field seem to enjoy their job of assisting farmers and the farmers enjoy sharing their expertise.
While working in EPD, I was able to gain an understanding of the security and clearance process required for new hires. EPD has a systematic approach to ensuring that employees are properly screened and cleared for duty. The process is slightly different depending on the level of clearance needed for specific positions.
My overall goal was to gain experience outside of the medical community and learn as much as I could within my six month internship. I feel I accomplished that thanks to the wonderful people who assisted me in this journey — from the FSA Veteran Program Manager in Washington D.C, to all of the staff within EPD, and everyone in the FSA Virginia State Office. I will miss participating in outreach activities and seeing farmer’s reactions as they find out about various programs and services offered by USDA.
In the end I was able to gain suitable employment within another government agency. Upon leaving USDA, my initial thoughts were bittersweet as I have a newfound respect for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In closing, the real lesson I learned was that agriculture is many things and the opportunities to grow are limitless.
