{"id":993,"date":"2018-08-27T15:30:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T22:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=993"},"modified":"2024-04-02T14:13:53","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T21:13:53","slug":"velda-hendricks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/velda-hendricks\/","title":{"rendered":"Reshaping the perspective of agriculture \u2013 one community at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Velda

Velda Hendricks applies the skills she learned online as an Oregon State agricultural sciences major to examine the soil by observing changes in color, structure, texture and pore size, and measuring the depth of each horizon.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Karina Ruiz Lopez
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Velda Hendricks has her sights set high. She wants to become the first female commissioner of agriculture in the U.S. Virgin Islands. And she\u2019s not giving up until she achieves her dream.<\/p>\n

But sometimes dreams need to be put on hold to attend to what matters most. For Velda, that\u2019s her family. So when her family needed her care, she did what many would do. She temporarily dropped out of her post-secondary education so she could provide for her family.<\/p>\n

After a few years, Velda returned to school to complete a teaching certificate through a technical school in Jamaica. Her certificate allowed her to teach agriculture for 10 years in her homeland in the Caribbean, St. Kitts. Later, Velda moved to the Virgin Islands, where she currently resides. That’s when she noticed a need for agriculture education in local schools and communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see the positive impact it can have on the Virgin Islands economy by providing jobs and generating income, and providing more locally grown, fresh foods to families\u2019 plate,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As the director of agriculture for the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Education, Velda is uniquely positioned to start creating the change she wants to see. But there was still one roadblock: she didn\u2019t have a degree in agricultural sciences.<\/p>\n

Determined to advance in her field and make a difference in her community, Velda enrolled in Oregon State University\u2019s agricultural sciences degree program<\/a> delivered online through Oregon State Ecampus. The flexibility that comes with learning online was a perfect fit for her personal and professional lives.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>Oregon State gave me an opportunity that will steer me in the right direction.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She’s using the knowledge she acquired to solve local challenges. She also advocates for agriculture, including reforming misconceptions about the field.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is this negative conception that agriculture is only about growing plants and animals, but it involves so much technology, science and economics,\u201d Velda said. \u201cWhen I teach agricultural science, I show my students the business aspect of it. I try to expose them to different careers in agriculture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of land here in St. Croix, but people are not serious about agriculture. We still import about 99 percent of our food, and in terms of health, we have a high rate of obesity. So I\u2019m advocating for getting students to learn more and eat healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do this, Velda plans on launching a garden-to-cafeteria program for local schools this fall.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m working on getting the kids to be in the garden, educating them about what they\u2019re doing in the garden and where the food is coming from, and then taking the food from the garden into the cafeteria and turning it into food they can eat,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As an agricultural sciences student, Velda was able to take the skills she learned in class and applied them to her daily job.<\/p>\n

\u201cOregon State\u2019s agriculture department has really put some thought into making the work we do in individual classes realistic,\u201d she said. \u201cI was actually out in the field doing a lot of hands-on activities. It\u2019s not just reading online or answering questions. It\u2019s very practical and real-world situations that are being taught in the classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n

But as always, family comes first. Velda\u2019s tenacity helped her attend to her husband\u2019s health and take frequent trips to Florida for treatment. She still managed to keep up with her education, too.<\/p>\n

And with a whole support team at Oregon State by her side, she was able to persist through both her personal and educational journeys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to share my concerns, my issues, the good times and the bad times with them. And they always gave me words of encouragement, so I\u2019m really thankful to have had them work with me,\u201d she said of her Ecampus student success coach, academic advisor and instructors. \u201cIt showed me that there are people in the world who understand what others are going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now as an agricultural sciences graduate, Velda\u2019s ultimate goal \u2014 becoming the first female commissioner of agriculture in the Virgin Islands and making a difference there \u2014 is getting closer to reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cOregon State gave me an opportunity that will steer me in the right direction,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Every journey starts with just one step. Take that first step today with OSU Ecampus.<\/p>\n

Request information<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Velda Hendricks has her sights set high: She wants to become the first female commissioner of agriculture in the U.S. Virgin Islands. And she\u2019s not giving up until she achieves her dream.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":998,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[101,374,638],"class_list":["post-993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-agricultural-sciences","tag-college-of-agricultural-sciences","tag-conservation-and-natural-sciences"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Velda-2.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-g1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2066,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/how-to-survive-returning-to-college\/","url_meta":{"origin":993,"position":0},"title":"Ecampus grads share their advice on returning to college online","author":"Carly Fredericks","date":"July 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State Ecampus grads know all too well how hard returning to college can be when juggling it with life and work. 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