Jerome Linyear is a member of the class of 2021 and an alumni of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications. He is currently enrolled in the Animal Science Graduate Program at Texas A&M University. Jerome is currently the director for Cargill’s THRIVE program at Texas A&M. When asked about the program, Jerome said “It is essentially a professional development organization for undergraduate students from all walks of life and from all majors and classifications within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.”
He is the first such director in this position. His duties include planning and attending personal development events for the students. Some events he has planned in the past year include etiquette dinners, guest speaker seminars, and trips across Texas to meet with leaders in the agriculture industry.
He also spoke of lessons learned from his time in Knoxville that have helped him in this role, recalling that the most important thing he learned was “Iron sharpens iron.” Linyear commented on his experiences in learning important teamwork skills “Whether it be at a college/university, on a sports team, or within a company/organization, members must work as a team and feed off of each other. If someone is struggling in a particular area, those that are more successful or experienced need to step up and do their part to help that person for the betterment of the organization. There is no shame in working together to achieve a goal as opposed to going it alone.”
Linyear looks back fondly on his time at the Herbert College of Agriculture. Some of his favorite memories include being an officer in Collegiate 4-H and FFA as well as Block and Bridle, being a Herbert Ambassador, being on the 2020 Livestock Judging Team, and attending sporting events with his friends. He stated that the college is “a big family that looks out for one another no matter the major, background or class.”
He advises all students to “…not let imposter syndrome keep you from grabbing life by the horns and making your goals a reality.”
