Meet Joe Pecoraro
When hearing that I am an agricultural journalism major, you might imagine that I come from a rural part of Missouri or Illinois. You could possibly think that maybe agriculture is in my family. Turns out this couldn’t be further from the truth.

I actually hail from a fairly large town known as Arlington Heights, Ill. It is a large suburb about 45 minutes northwest of Chicago. As a town filled with concrete and development, very few people seem to have an interest in sustainability or the environment. And as much as I love them, I would say that goes double for my family.

I found my own green revolution on my own over the past couple years. What truly put me over the edge was a trip to the Kankakee River for a high school environmental studies class. There was garbage everywhere, and to be honest, it was kind of shocking.

Ever since then I have been interested in environmental journalism because I feel the more you know about something like environmental issues, the more willing you are to try and make the change that is needed.

As the year goes on, more and more students change their majors and double guess on what they decided on as a degree. I have personally only become more confident about what I want to do.

Since arriving at Mizzou, I have become involved in the Mizzou Volunteer Society. It is a group dedicated to bettering the Columbia community. They have done some things such as a river cleanup in Jefferson City, as well as handing out food and supplies for homeless families.

In my spare time I enjoy playing racquetball with friends and rooting for some Chicago sports.

I hope to one day work as an environmental reporter for a publication near my home in Arlington Heights.

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