This May, Emerson Searl crossed the stage as a proud graduate of the University of Florida’s Food and Resource Economics (FRE) program. Reflecting on her time in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Emerson shared how her FRE journey helped her grow as a leader and build lasting connections with faculty and fellow students.
Searl specialized in Food and Agribusiness Marketing and Management. “Having always found product presentation and sales strategies interesting, I saw an opportunity to learn more about it through this specialization,” Searl shares.
Following graduation, she will be completing an internship this summer before starting graduate school in August. She is pursuing a Master of International Business through the Warrington College of Business. FRE has helped her prepare for this next step through the broad topics taught throughout our classes. Searl says, “My experience writing reports, presenting on current events, and utilizing Excel has given me a solid background to continue my studies.”
Searl was highly involved during her time in FRE which enhanced her time in the program. She was involved in Ag Econ Club and held officer positions, Quiz Bowl, and research opportunities. In Fall 2023, Searl was the Vice President and then served as President this past year. She was able to assist planning events that involved socials such as the Halloween walkthrough and career development workshops.
“It was so rewarding seeing our club grow over the past few years, and the club hopes to help guide FRE majors through their time in the program and beyond” said Searl.
She officially felt part of the FRE community when Dr. Misti Sharp recruited her for the Quiz Bowl team. Joining the Quiz Bowl team allowed her to speak with fourth year students about their time and FRE and give her advice for upcoming years. She met her mentor and one of her best friends, Shelby Sumner, through Quiz Bowl.
Even after graduation, Sumner helped her understand the process of applying to graduate school, which was so helpful during her last, and busy, semester. These friendships she made continued even after those students graduated.
She also participated in two research projects during her time in FRE.
“I want to thank Dr. John Lai and Meri Hambaryan for introducing me to UF’s IFAS Research Department” she said.
She was able to work with Meri on agricultural climate change. In her senior year, she completed honors research with Dr. Caleb Stair on organic egg production. Her time spent as a researcher gave her an appreciation for the challenging process of data collection and communicating research discoveries in an understandable way.
It was difficult for Searl to determine her fondest memories in the FRE program because there were so many. She enjoyed traveling to places such as Washington D.C., New Orleans, and Irving, Texas which gave her the opportunity to sightsee and meet other Agricultural Economic students from other schools. Searl said, “I also loved studying with friends for classes while doing one of my favorite things – getting coffee at the Starbucks library locations!”
Emerson’s biggest piece of advice for current and future students as an FRE graduate?
“Go to office hours,” she emphasized. “They’re a great opportunity to get to know your professors and have meaningful conversations that help you understand challenging class material. I always remind people that professors have office hours dedicated to help their students succeed.”
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