![\"Alyssa](\"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/05\/Alyssa-TSU-576x1024.jpg\")
\u201cI don\u2019t think people want to talk about their struggles, they find it embarrassing, and I want everyone to understand that you can come from that kind of background and everything you\u2019ve done is still valid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Alyssa knew early on that those formative lessons would stay with her. Then involvement in Future Farmers of America gave her promise and a fresh path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe biggest driver of success for me is that I was so involved in FFA in high school,\u201d she said. \u201cI loved agricultural education from the time I attended my first class. I felt tied to the need to tell people about where their food comes from.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A first-generation college graduate, she earned a degree in agriculture education at Utah State before looking around for a master\u2019s program. She found that and more while working at national FFA in Indianapolis. That\u2019s where she met Russell Ewell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They married in 2015 and moved to Texas. The couple now make their home near Iredell. Her father-in-law, Frank Ewell, taught agricultural economics at Tarleton for 35 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always been a very Tarleton-oriented family,\u201d Alyssa said. \u201cWe always felt at home here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her ag ed degree began paying dividends when she joined the company started by her brother-in-law. The business is based on a computerized system of scoring FFA competitive events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was a natural fit to join the company because we focus so heavily on ag education. However, I realized that I needed a better understanding of how to run a business. That\u2019s why I proceeded to go for my MBA.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She earned her MBA completely online. But that doesn\u2019t mean she didn\u2019t forge relationships through her classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo many of the other students who were studying with me were not even in Texas. There was someone who was deployed in China, and one who was in California. Most memorable was that all of us chose Tarleton, even though we have these really varied backgrounds. We got to learn so much about each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The newly awarded Outstanding MBA graduate will detail some of her hard-scrabble upbringing in her commencement address. She wants to reach people, especially young women who need to hear her story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo often women\u2019s stories aren\u2019t shared as often as they should be, stories about women who have incredibly difficult backgrounds. We need to talk about the things women have overcome,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo be able to stand on the stage and tell this story and realize that maybe someone in the crowd had an experience like that \u2014 it does not have to impact their entire future. They can still do whatever they want.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STEPHENVILLE, Texas \u2014 A rough start instilled unswerving determination in Alyssa Ewell, who will collect her MBA and deliver the 9 a.m. commencement address at Friday\u2019s Tarleton State University graduation …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":48942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[382,423],"tags":[436,447],"class_list":["post-48940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-academics-research","tag-college-of-agriculture-natural-resources","tag-dr-sam-pack-college-of-business"],"acf":{"image":false},"author_meta":{"display_name":"priddle","author_link":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/author\/priddle-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/65\/2023\/05\/Alyssa-Ewell-8237.jpg","coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["_Homepage<\/a>","Academics & Research<\/a>"],"unlinked":["_Homepage<\/span>","Academics & Research<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["College of Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/a>","Dr. Sam Pack College of Business<\/a>"],"unlinked":["College of Agriculture & Natural Resources<\/span>","Dr. Sam Pack College of Business<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":0,"relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 3 years ago","modified":"Updated 3 years ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on May 9, 2023","modified":"Updated on May 5, 2023"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on May 9, 2023 8:00 am","modified":"Updated on May 5, 2023 1:38 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"Woman smiling in front of Tarleton State University logo.","series_order":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48940\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tarleton.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}