Alumna works her way to Washington, D.C. s the morning sun shone across Washington, D.C., on March 4, members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture gathered in the Longworth House Office Building to conduct a hearing to review the state of the rural economy. As U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue testified to the committee, Anna Brightwell, an Oklahoma State University agribusiness alumna, stood to the side as she documented the hearing through pictures and videos. Brightwell serves as a staff and press assistant of the House Committee on Agriculture for K. Michael Conaway of Texas. Born and raised in Carthage, Missouri, Brightwell grew up on a cowcalf operation as a fifth-generation cattle producer. She said her father, Rick Brightwell, instilled in her a love for agriculture. “From an early age, I was involved in 4-H and FFA and exhibited pigs and cattle,” she said. “This involvement and interactions with agricultural producers ignited my interest in agricultural policy and my goal of working in Washington, D.C.” 60 | COWBOY JOURNAL
After graduating from Carthage High School in 2016, Brightwell attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College for two years on a livestock judging scholarship. While attending a conference at OSU as a high school student, Brightwell “fell in love” with the campus and knew she wanted to become a part of the “Cowboy family” one day, she said. The family atmosphere in the college, especially in Agricultural Hall was a big reason why she decided to transfer to OSU in 2018 for her junior year, she said. “Ag Hall just felt like home,” she said. “I liked the feeling of walking by the Student Success Center and always seeing a familiar face.” Brightwell said transferring to OSU was challenging for her at first because she did not know a lot of people. Joining the college’s Student Council was a major step forward for her, Brightwell said. She was selected to serve on the Freshmen and Transfer Representatives Council, and she began to know more students by getting involved in various college activities, she said. “Anna Brightwell is a quiet and
confident leader,” said Cynda Clary, associate dean of academic programs in the Ferguson College of Agriculture. “She has a confidence in what she knows as well as what she would like to do and who she wants to work with.” Becoming a member of the student council helped her get to know different students and helped her transition to the university go smoothly, Brightwell said. “She is brave enough to step out to do something that takes courage as a transfer student,” Clary said. Not satisfied with just serving the college, Brightwell joined the Student Alumni Board and multiple Student Government Association committees to begin serving the university on a wider scale, she said. “Although I was only a student at OSU for three semesters, I was determined to make the most of being there by serving both the university and the Stillwater community,” she said. Brightwell is passionate about politics and public service, she said, and hopes to pursue a career in international trade policy and law. She also did internships related to legal aid, community service and policy.
