For many people, public speaking is an anxiety-inducing activity which they will try to avoid at almost any cost. Not so for University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment graduating senior Mary Elizabeth Wood. Wood, who will shake the hand of UK President Eli Capilouto at Friday afternoon’s Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony and receive her bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics, is looking forward to addressing her fellow graduates and an audience of thousands in Rupp Arena as the student commencement speaker.

First introduced to agriculture during her high school years at Western Hills High School in Frankfort, Wood took an active role in the school’s chapter of Future Farmers of America.

“I became immensely invested in agriculture. I learned the importance of the industry and how it is the only industry that touches the lives of every single person multiple times a day,”  Wood said. “In fact, one of my favorite quotes reads: ‘Despite all our accomplishments, we owe our existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.’ I knew that I needed to continue my journey in agriculture. UK’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment is held in high esteem nationally and around the world, and so it became a natural choice as the place to continue my education.”

Read more at UKNow.