MOST people can remember a school mentor that changed the course of their life.
Teaching can be inspiring, supportive or motivational and it is no surprise that the influence of a great mentor can be felt for years to come.
Western Australian College of Agriculture, Cunderdin, assistant farm manager Madison Corsini is definitely one of these great mentors.
Her passion for farming is infectious and it is evident she really cares about passing on the knowledge of agriculture to the next generation.
She is a Cunderdin college native, having attended in years 11 and 12 and now works on the campus - 10 years and counting.
She has worked her way up the ranks and her hard work has definitely paid off.
WA College of Agriculture, Cunderdin, 2021 graduate students Shannon Clarke (left), Madison Corsini, Aahlia Faltyn and Lexie Uren.
Having joined the college as the piggery manager, Ms Corsini slowly grew the piggery from a 20-sow enterprise a substantial 80 sows.
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With her time, she implemented a new training package, the Certificate III in Pork Production, which was an opportunity for students to learn, thrive, enjoy and achieve a qualification in a sometimes-forgotten industry.
Ms Corsini helped implement new infrastructure in the piggery to ensure its was working to industry standard, with a new straw-based gestation dome shelter, new high performing genetics and a finisher/weigh shed.
She has since become the college's assistant farm manager, which has offered an exciting new challenge over the past three years.
This role has provided new skills of leadership, organisation, patience and drive to showcase what agricultural education can provide to the next generations.
Her impact on the Cunderdin agricultural students has already been recognised by the Western Australian Department of Education, which awarded her the 2021 WA School Services Staff Member of the Year award.
"I was very privileged and very grateful for the nomination and all those that supported me throughout it," Ms Corsini said.
"I'm just very lucky and privileged to have a great working team and family around me who support me through all decisions."
The set-up of an agriculture school is completely different to that of a metropolitan school, which is one of the reasons Ms Corsini fell in love with the college.
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It has longer hours and the opportunity to continue farm and trade activities after school, with shearing happening in the afternoon.
"It's not like some of the Perth boarding schools that have residential off-site to the actual school that they attend, this college has school, trades, residential, dining hall and the farm all metres from each other - so there are no excuses for being late," she said.
"It's a good college because you get that hands-on experience as well as the written.
"You've got practical work happening down in the workshops with the trades, a farm consisting of shearing, piggery and butchery and lots more - it's never ending.
"Students have the endless opportunities here, offered by the staff at the college - they are the backbone."
Ms Corsini met her husband-to-be in year 11 at the college and married him in 2019.
However, with the distance between the family farm and the college, Ms Corsini isn't always at home.
She hopes to be closer when she achieves her teaching degree.
"I would love to fill that gap of year nine and 10 in the Wheatbelt before they come to the college, giving them a bit of knowledge on agriculture, and specialising in agriculture in a district high school," Ms Corsini said.
Despite being given the opportunity to attend boarding school in Perth, Ms Corsini decided to follow her family footsteps and learn more about agriculture.
Growing up, she watched her grandparents and parents work on the family farm and was inspired by the teamwork and hard work required to run it.
"I would see the time and hard work put into the family farm to showcase what agriculture is, that it's not just supporting our family but it's feeding so many families," Ms Corsini said.
"It's a process that has been happening for so long, that it's only going to get better and better, so I wanted to learn more about that.
"And now I'm in a space where I can educate others with the insights that I see within agriculture and the future generations that have the ideas and technology to make it better.
"I wish to give every student an opportunity to chase their goals in the agriculture industry, because with determination and hard work big things happen".
