Perseverance in the face of adversity. It is the story that all of us in America can appreciate. We have always been a civilization of fighters. People who aren?t willing to let the status quo keep us back in life. We strive to not be defined by our faults, limitations, or a stereotypical image of what society expects of us.
Audio: Interview with Cesar Delgado of Ottawa, Illinois
It can be a fork in the road for many of us in life. Which direction do we go? The easy path or the difficult path? The easy path may be easy, but it rarely comes with rewards or a feeling of accomplishment. The hard road is just that. It is a challenge that comes with high rewards, but not everybody makes it to that finish line. One Illinois man has looked at that fork in the road and decided to not take the easy path. However, his dreams take him away from even what we may feel is the hard path. This young man is putting his life into four-wheel drive and going completely off-road.
Meet Cesar Delgado, of Ottawa, Illinois. He is dealing with a situation that many people would consider a roadblock to any kind of success in life. Cesar has cerebral palsy. He is in a wheelchair and needs a machine to help him communicate verbally. However, he is not letting that stop him from fulfilling his dream of one day being a farm broadcaster.
This bright young man has been passionate about agriculture from a young age. He was involved in the farm management aspect of the Ottawa FFA. He is currently enrolled in Illinois Valley Community College, pursuing a degree in agronomy. Originally, he had wanted to study political sciences. However, the political climate has become such, that Cesar no longer had an interest in pursuing that dream. He isn?t completely abandoning politics, because he knows that policy-making is very involved in the agriculture industry. By pairing his interests and a background with agronomy, he feels that he will be able to make a great contribution to the industry.
Cesar is already on his way to fulfilling this dream. He hosts a YouTube podcast called ?Back Roads of Illinois?. There he discusses agriculture topics across the board. He has talked with some of the greats of the industry, including Dr. Temple Grandin. He cites great Illinois broadcasters such as Todd Gleason as mentors along his journey.
Cesar and I have been exchanging text messages and emails over the past weeks. His dedication and desire to fulfill his dream is inspirational. He is very knowledgeable about many topics in ag and is very keen on the realm of cover crops. His dream is to one day be involved with ag reporting on the public radio format. He knows that by accomplishing his dream he can inspire others like him to fulfill their dreams and make great contributions to not only our industry but to the whole world.
So, if you are one of those people who is at that fork in the road, and you aren?t too sure which path you want to travel down. Be like Cesar and just forge your own path to accomplishing your goals in life.
