Debbie Schwarz Simpson
Register-Herald Reporter
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FAIRLEA — Jessica Strait, who hails from Katy, a small town in Texas, is wrapping up her summer internship with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture in a program sponsored by the Southern United States Trade Association.
She is spending the last part of her internship in the Gus R. Douglass Annex at the State Fair of West Virginia.
Strait has ties to southern West Virginia.
Her aunt and uncle, Cindy and Tom Dragan, reside in Thurmond and her aunt is actively involved with the local chamber of commerce and Bridge Day.
“I’ve stayed with them,” the soft-spoken intern said. “I worked out of the Oak Hill office.
“I really enjoyed going to New York City to the Southern United States Trade Association pavilion.
“We had a SUSTA pavilion that featured booths. We helped them market their projects,” Strait explained. “I worked at the Fancy Food show.”
At the State Fair, Strait has done purchase orders and press releases, including one for the West Virginia Grown program, a project of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture.
“I’ve gotten a lot of work experience. I’ve learned to juggle many projects and I’ve improved my communications skills,” she said.
“I didn’t know anything about agriculture. I learned that if you don’t have food, you can’t survive,” said Strait, a journalism major at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Va.
Cynthia Martel, a marketing specialist in the WVDA office in Oak Hill, has high praise for the 19-year-old intern.
“She didn’t have a background in agriculture. She had to do a lot of research. She represented her university well and I think she will be a success,” Martel said.
