LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Texas Tech students are leaving the classroom to apply their coursework in the field through the Davis College of Agriculture\u2019s Matador Institute of Leadership Engagement, known as MILE.<\/p>\n
The program is taking members on tours across the South Plains, including a stop at Buster\u2019s Cotton Gin in Ropesville, to prepare them for trips to Austin and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
Program director emphasizes hands-on learning<\/p>\n
Lindsey Kennedy is the director of the MILE program.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I\u2019m a big believer in experiential learning,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cAnd sometimes, you know, there\u2019s only so much that we can teach within the four walls of a classroom. And when our students get out in the field and they talk to these industry professionals and the farmers and producers that are living this life every day, it really hits home a lot more. And they\u2019re able to apply those things that they\u2019ve been learning in their other classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program lasts three semesters, developing a pipeline from Texas Tech to an industry of trained leaders who understand the issues affecting agriculture locally and nationally. Fifteen out of 50 students are chosen for a seat in the program.<\/p>\n
Training future industry leaders<\/p>\n
Kennedy said she hopes the students will be part of creating differences in the agriculture industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re moving on to influential positions within our industry,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cAnd these are also the people that are going to be your school board members, your community leaders, and helping them understand, you know, the level of service and the value of community. We\u2019re trying to create some well-rounded leaders in the ag industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kennedy said the program is entirely industry funded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s something that I think speaks to the level of support and the culture that we have in agriculture, particularly here on the South Plains,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cThey believe in the development of our students to be the future leaders of this industry. And they\u2019ve helped us support this program, provide these cool opportunities for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students describe stepping out of their comfort zones<\/p>\n
Grayson Downs and Addie Carlson, members of MILE, said the program got them out of their comfort zones. They attribute it to an extensive application process that challenged them to find the \u201cwhy\u201d in their future careers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike if you\u2019re not going to get the hands-on opportunity and seeing what you, getting actually out there seeing and witnessing and experiencing the situations that we face, but also the blessings we get to have in this industry, then we\u2019re not always going to get to know and learn,\u201d Downs said. \u201cAnd then if you\u2019re not able to know and learn, how are you able to defend it and how are you able to stand with it every time?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know how to put this, but I guess out of my comfort zone, has pushed me to be a better person essentially, you know, asking better questions,\u201d Carlson said. \u201cThey are…we\u2019re kind of all competitive people. When you put competitive people in a group together, they\u2019re going to constantly push each other to be better, spur each other on.\u201d<\/p>\n
MILE students are heading to Washington, D.C., and then to Austin for the legislative session, where they will see how state and national policies funnel down to local agriculture.<\/p>\n
Copyright 2026 KCBD. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Texas Tech students are leaving the classroom to apply their coursework in the field…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":453764,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2389,155909,155910,163,27409,1049,27,29,28,1769,6301],"class_list":["post-453763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-agriculture","tag-busters-gin","tag-davis-college-of-agriculture","tag-education","tag-mile","tag-students","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-tech","tag-tour"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/453763\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/453764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=453763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=453763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}