POINT PLEASANT — Variety and being involved in the community often makes a job interesting.

For Rodney Wallbrown, West Virginia University extension agent, the variety and daily community interactions that his job provides keeps him interested and loving his work.

Wallbrown has been Mason County’s extension agent since 1989 and attributed his interest in agriculture as coming from growing up on a farm. Prior to becoming the county’s extension agent, Wallbrown taught vocational agriculture at the Mason County Career Center for more than 17 years.

“I grew up on a farm in Roane County. I enjoyed farming all my life. Because I was involved in vocational agriculture and FFA in high school, that developed more of a love for agriculture and working with rural people,” Wallbrown said, adding that he decided to go to college and major in agricultural education so he could teach.

After a former extension agent left due to a promotion, Wallbrown said he decided to apply for the job because he believed it would be a way to help more people.

“I felt like (being an extension agent) would be a great opportunity to do more with the entire county and maybe be able to do things in agriculture to help the county,” he said.

Wallbrown described working with others as the most interesting aspect of his job.

“My most interesting aspect would be the daily work with people and helping them with what needs they have,” he said.

Aside from working with people, Wallbrown said he loves being an extension agent because of the job’s variety.

“No two days are alike. Every day is something different. It’s all enjoyable, and it doesn’t get boring,” he added.

As a major part of his job revolves around helping others, Wallbrown described that as being sometimes difficult.

“The hardest part of my job is being confronted with a subject or situation that you don’t feel like you’re really qualified (to handle) and being worried about giving advice,” he said. “Then I have to get on the phone to get help.”

However, Wallbrown described the most difficult part of his job as being a challenge and said he enjoys being an extension agent.

“I love it. You couldn’t ask for a better job than being a county extension agent,” he said.

Wallbrown described his schedule as being very busy but said he enjoyed all his involvement. According to Wallbrown, he works five days a week from 8 a.m. until when he finishes, which could be between 4 and 6 p.m. However, he often works in the evenings when he has a late meeting. In addition, Wallbrown works on the weekends if there is a certain activity or event that he is involved with going on.

The majority of Wallbrown’s work includes office work along with farm and home visits.

“Mason County is one of the largest agriculture counties in West Virginia. A lot of my work has to do with livestock production, crop production and home needs,” Wallbrown said. “It’s a pretty big responsibility because a lot of decisions I make involve thousands of dollars. If you don’t make the right call you can cost people a lot of money.”

Wallbrown also is involved with many organizations including civic groups and youth activities, which include working with 4-H members.

“Being an educator and involved with WVU I’m also called to do a lot of youth work — anything from judging the social studies fair, science fair, (working at) the Outdoor Youth Expo and speaking to groups about agriculture,” Wallbrown said, adding that he also occasionally speaks at CEOS meetings.

In addition, Wallbrown writes a weekly column for the Point Pleasant Register, does a short radio program on Saturdays and does a television program on WSAZ once a month.

As the primary focus of his job involves helping others, Wallbrown said that those interested in working as an extension agent must enjoy working with people and the community.

“I would encourage anybody who is interested in agriculture (to be an extension agent). And they must be interested in helping people and working with people,” he said. “(As an extension agent) you are here to deal with people and help people.”

Helping others and treating people with kindness is something Wallbrown said extension agents as well as others should practice.

“We need to understand how important everybody is to the world and treat everyone as equal. We need to be fair and honest in everything we do and be trustworthy and dependable,” he said. “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”

This is one piece of advice Wallbrown certainly has applied to his own life and career as he continues to help the citizens of Mason County.

(If you know someone who could be a potential candidate for an upcoming “Day in the Life” feature, e-mail his or her name and contact information to mdrnews@mydailyregister.com or call 304-675-1333).