“When I tell people I work for the Missouri State Fair they’re like ‘they have employees?’” said Devyn Keller, senior agricultural education major with an emphasis in communications and leadership. “Yes, full time staff; it doesn’t just show up from Aug. 8 to 18.”
As a Missouri State Fair (MSF) marketing intern for the second summer in a row, Keller organizes the opening day parade and ceremonies, works with the media, and runs the fair’s Instagram and TikTok, in addition to other tasks that make the MSF run smoothly. MSF hired six interns this year who live and work on the fairgrounds all summer leading up to the fair.
Claire Walker, sophomore agribusiness management major, and Libby Kleinsorge, sophomore agricultural education major with an emphasis in teacher certification, both intern in the MSF Entries Department, where they work with livestock superintendents and exhibitors. Kleinsorge also works to organize the MSF Let’s Talk Livestock and Barnyard Story Time programs with her sister, who attends Kansas State University and coincidentally applied for an MSF internship at the same time.
While the interns have different tasks, they work together regularly to solve problems across their departments.
“The experience of picking up the phone and never knowing what you’re going to get was new for me,” said Walker. “Sometimes it’s a question you’ve answered 5 times today, or sometimes it’s something that requires us to dig through rules and regulations and call superintendents, which has helped me to both figure things out on my own, but also know how to work with other people to get answers and provide good customer service.”
Soon, the interns’ preparation will culminate in the fair itself, where all their hard work will be seen by the public.
“I’m excited to thrive in the fun chaos of coordinating the fair,” said Walker. “I had always shown at the fair with my family but had never really seen all the details behind the scenes, so when it came time to apply for internships this was an opportunity to not only get an internship early but to have one with something I felt connected to and had some experience with.”
“I’m excited to work with the exhibitors and see the parts of the fair I’m used to, but I’m also definitely going to go watch the dancing competitions and some of the events I hadn’t heard of before this internship,” Kleinsorge said. Walker and Keller are also interested in some of MSF’s more unique events, like cowboy mounted shooting, draft horse hitches, and the equine costume contest.
In addition to working behind the scenes and enjoying the fair itself, the interns also gained many real-world skills from their summer in Sedalia and would recommend the experience to other CAFNR students.
“We work with the public so much and you just can’t get that in a traditional classroom,” said Keller. “We can make up fake scenarios as much as we want to but it’s never the real deal until it’s the real deal. So just take the chances, try new things, get out of your comfort zone.
“You get some crazy stuff but you have to find the answer and learn how to be resourceful and work with other people and serve the public. I did the parade last year as well and while it’s very stressful, it’s one of my proudest moments to say that I coordinated such a big thing with so many people and was successful.”
“An internship is worth it; they’re all different and you learn what you like and what you don’t like, and you never know where an internship might lead,” said Kleinsorge.
“Making connections with the other interns has been really special,” Walker said. “You make lasting friendships that you wouldn’t have had if you weren’t at this internship, and you get to learn the teamwork behind it.”
Walker also emphasized that building connections with the other full-time staff and full-time employees connected to the fair in other ways are also important.
“Agriculture is a big industry,” she said. “But everyone knows someone who knows someone, so you never know where those connections might lead and what adventures and opportunities it might hold.”