Name: Christina Riessen
Major(s): Agricultural and life sciences education – teacher certification, Horticulture
Graduation year: 2014
Current job title and company/organization: Horticulture professor, Des Moines Area Community College
What moment or experience at Iowa State most shaped your career path?
Choosing horticulture for my secondary degree has led me to where I am today. The Iowa State University Department of Horticulture faculty and staff are incredibly knowledgeable and caring, and the industry is rich in diverse opportunities. Learning never stops! Horticulture Club also had a major impact on my life by introducing me to lifelong friends and giving me opportunities to learn, to grow as a leader, and to travel.
How did your involvement in clubs, internships or research opportunities at Iowa State prepare you for your current role?
Participating in Iowa State Singers, Horticulture Club, CALS Ambassadors, and other organizations introduced me to so many great peers and friends at Iowa State. It also taught me how to network with peers and folks in industry, introduced me to various employers, and allowed me to travel around the nation. All of this comes in handy as I teach horticulture production and collaborate with numerous vendors and horticulture businesses. Friends and classmates are also now a resource of experts with whom to consult to stay current on information and to ask questions that I don’t know.
What’s one challenge you’ve faced in your education or career, and how did you overcome it?
As a nerdy people-person motivated by quality results, I was dismayed to encounter the biases that unfortunately still exist in the workforce (and world). I focus on how to get tasks done efficiently in a quality manner while also enabling the people who produce those results to have a pleasant work/school day and for them to be able to go home with energy for whatever tasks/time they have with family and friends. Some people get hung up on the appearance, gender, age, level of education, etc. of a person or feel that more people/items under their supervision make them more powerful. This (along with lack of training for supervisees and supervisors alike) leads to poor management and communication that ends in quality employees (future company leaders) seeking employment elsewhere and to lost revenue for the company (partly due to turnover). Recruitment, training, mentorship, and retention become crucial to any workplace. Being able to continue doing your work even amidst noise and hardship and while facing pressure is important to being productive and to maintaining personal health. This resilience and grit are hard to teach, to learn, and difficult to endure at times, but they provide great wisdom.
Fill in the blank and provide a brief explanation: “I wouldn’t be where I am today without ______.”
Choosing my adventure at Iowa State. Some question whether or not a (four-year) degree is necessary to work in the horticulture industry, but without going to Iowa State, I would not have met my friends, travelled, or discovered the nursery jobs in Minnesota that I loved. I also gained invaluable knowledge, skills, and memories in class, club activities, and Ames. As Norman Borlaug's Grandfather Nels stated, "Governments come and governments go, but if you've got a good education no one can take that from you!”
Fill in the blank: “The best piece of advice I received in college was _________, and here’s why it stuck with me: _________.”
Two quotes stick with me from two terrific faculty at Iowa State. Dr. Gladon stated, "You've gotta know what you know, know what you don't know, and know the difference." So much truth in that statement. While in the Iowa State Singers, Dr. Rodde frequently said to us, "Your voice is more mature today than it was yesterday." I apply that mantra to our whole lives – we are more mature today than yesterday. We are shaped from our past and continue to learn in the future.