I am so excited to share with you that I received my Gamma Sigma Delta (GSD) Honor Society of Agriculture membership certificate (Figure 1.) and a One-Time Spring 2021 Fellowship Award (figure 2) this week. This is a double-honor for me this week, and I am excited to share the news here on PDCOH.

I feel honored and proud to be invited into the great GSD society because membership of the society is solely by nomination, which is based on the recognition of the high scholarship and outstanding achievement or service of a potential member. Even more, I feel so happy about the membership because the activities of the society align with my passions and commitments.

I enroll in the college of agriculture because of my undying passion to contribute to the improvement of agriculture and produce more food for the growing world population, through the provision of research-based information and tools to agriculture stakeholders. It is very interesting to me that GSD is committed to supporting these same passions. So I see this membership as a great call. I see it as call to responsibility, and at the same time as an additional feather to my wings – the motivational power I need to keep moving.

I was still celebrating my GSD membership certificate later on during the week, while I received an email from the Graduate School, awarding me a One-Time Spring 2021 Fellowship based on nomination from my department. Recognizing my contributions to research programs at the University of Tennessee, the fellowship award is provided for me as an additional financial support.

I must confess that I feel so fortunate and very supported doing my PhD program at UT. Combining the incredible supports and high-level mentorship with the student-friendly facilities at UT, there is no limit to the feats UT students can achieve.

I am extremely thankful.