I was never a morning person growing up — waking up early was not my cup of tea!

As a bit of this may still be true, waking up and getting on the road and watching the sun set has been something that helps me clear my mind and start each day with a new perspective.

The morning sunrise has become very important to me. This internship has taught me that learning while doing really does work, and every day will bring new adventures and challenges that you will conquer.

So far, I have been here for six weeks, and because of all the amazing people I have meet it feels as if I have been here for years.

Through this week, I put in work at the parts counter with Chris in Georgetown. Chris is a parts employee; his job entails helping customers figure out what part they need for a piece of equipment along with helping me sell some of my products.

At this point of working in parts, I have learned that every farmer is a Swiss army knife of trades, and if you do not have the part they need, they will just go home and make their own. Then when that breaks, they will be back for that part again.

I also spent some time this past week in the service department at Wilmington with Nick, the assistant service manager. Between all the paperwork, phone calls, and techs, I have gained a whole new perspective on what it takes to run a shop — a shop with its concentration in agriculture!

While I was in the shop, I typed up the work orders that the techs had filled out after they fixed a piece of equipment from one of our customers. Through the rest of the week, I helped wherever I was needed.

I really focused on talking about the products that the other interns and myself are selling. I sold some big mule wipes, magnetic parts trays, and even a cooler to some new and old customers. I even sold some of the magnetic trays to the techs out in the shop, and may I say, did it take some convincing!

These technicians were hard-headed, but they soon came to realize they had met there match — needless to say the techs bought some trays.

At the end of my week, I went on a sales call with Eli, one of the salesmen out of Eaton. Austin, one of the interns, accompanied us. On this sales call, we looked at two tractors that the customers were wanting to trade for a new one. Austin and I got to work on some of the paperwork — we learned how many people it takes to create a trade-in deal!

While driving to the customer’s farm and back to the store, Eli gave us both a lesson on peacocks and chickens. Eli is a salesman by day, but a bird master by night!

All in all, my week was full of new and old adventures that have allowed me to see the many hats that people wear in agriculture. I feel I have found a home here at Bane-Welker, and I look forward to my future. Please look forward to my column next week and come into your closest Bane-Welker to experience what I see every day.

This would not be a Macel Stowers column without … Go Bucks!

Macel Stowers is a summer intern with Bane-Welker Equipment and a student at The Ohio State University.