Six North Carolina young adults planning to study agriculture or related fields upon entering college this fall are recipients of the R. Flake Shaw Scholarship, North Carolina Farm Bureau’s top academic award.

The renewable scholarship is valued at $3,000 per year and provides each recipient with a total of $12,000 over four years for tuition, books and other related expenses.

The scholarship program assists 24 college-level students each year and has provided more than $500,000 in scholarship money to agriculture students since it was founded in 1967.

All six of this year’s recipients will have the chance to meet on campus as they have all chosen North Carolina State University.

Jacob A. Bender of Warren County, a graduate of The Franklin Academy in Wake County, plans to major in agricultural engineering and mechanical engineering.

He has won several awards for showing livestock and says the experience of working on his family’s farm has been the greatest influence on his life.

“Just as the early engineers developed the irrigation systems that fed the Egyptian Empire, future agricultural leaders will lay the foundation for the continuation and advancement of the world in which we live today,” he says. “I want to be that future agricultural engineer who crafts the technology of tomorrow’s advancements in the production of food, fiber and fuel.”

Morgan D. Drake, a graduate of SouthWest Edgecombe High School, plans to major in agricultural engineering. After completing an undergraduate degree, she plans to go to graduate school, and ultimately has career goals of improving farm machinery.

“My dream is to design and help produce farm equipment that will improve production for farmers,” she says. “I hope to have a job that will allow me opportunities to travel to different states or even different countries.”

She is working on her family farm and traveling with the 4-H exchange club this summer and would like to travel outside
the U.S. to study agriculture in other countries.

Allison J. Dunn, a graduate of James B. Hunt High School in Wilson, will pursue a degree in agricultural education.

“Being an agricultural educator requires one to study various agricultural trends, practices and areas ranging from animal science to biotechnology to horticulture to agribusiness,” she says. “Each of these branches, along with numerous other areas, expands to reveal the backbone of what feeds, clothes and keeps our nation alive and thriving.”

She credits being active in the FFA Association and 4-H for teaching her to show livestock, taking part in career development events and speaking in public.

Carson L. Hilliard, a graduate of Northampton County High School East, will study either agricultural business or agronomy and plans to join the agronomy club and other organizations.

In his hometown, Seaboard, he works with the World Changers program at his church and helps at the local fire department.

“When I graduate from North Carolina State, I plan to move back home to start my own business or work with the Cooperative Extension office, helping local farmers implement new farming practices and helping them manage their business,” he says.

Taryn S. Looper, a graduate of South Caldwell High School, plans to major in animal science.

She is the fifth generation to live on the farm that has been in her family for 112 years. Last year, she attended N.C. Farm Bureau and N.C. State’s Institute for Future Agriculture Leaders and says she learned what it takes to be a leader. She put those skills into practice as FFA president her senior year.

“All of my life I have been surrounded by agriculture, and I know that my career will be related to it,” she says.

Caroline E. Yopp, a graduate of Triton High School in Dunn, was chapter and regional president of FFA. She also led an FFA gleaning project.

Yopp says she used to think she’d be a lawyer one day, until FFA and her school’s agriculture education program awakened her to the importance of agriculture. She plans to major in agricultural education, with a concentration in animal science.

“In a world where education is constantly changing, I want to be the voice of this industry in the classroom and assure the future of this industry that they will be presented with the tools they need for the real world,” she says.