Ag Journeys
Mitchell Valentin
Hometown: Philadelphia, PA
Major: Agricultural Science
Minors: Photography, Wildlife and Fisheries Science
Good at: Photography, snake breeding, identifying bird calls, leadership, horseback riding
“Ag Science is perfect for me. It’s a little bit of all the majors and that’s what I love about it.”
Not everybody knows the perfect major from day one. For Mitchell, it was faculty and staff who helped him find his way.
“My freshman year, I started majoring in Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences and started thinking it wasn’t the place for me. Freshman year was honestly rough. I began to ask around, and staff from Ag's Office for Undergraduate Education and others helped me figure it out. They really made me feel at home.”
“The Photography minor is a way to educate a broader audience. It shows everyone what agriculture is.”
“I would really love my work to be educational.”
“I would love to work for National Geographic. A lot of people think that’s all about traveling the world, but what I want is to help people learn how important it is to take care of this planet we’re living on.”
Ag Science takes you around the world.
Before Mitchell puts on that graduation cap, he’ll be heading off to Ireland for the summer to complete an international ag class. “I think it’s important to understand that agriculture isn’t just the United States. Everything I’m learning at Penn State I can apply to different parts of the world to have a bigger impact.”