When Greenville County 4-H agent Amie Mabe logged into her first Clemson graduate class, she wasn’t at a desk or in an office. She was in a hospital room, postpartum, with her third child. It was not a traditional start to a master’s degree, but nothing about Mabe’s path into agriculture has been.
This week, Mabe will graduate with a Master of Agriculture Education. This milestone spans two universities, years of online lectures and class projects, while also balancing Extension work with family life and her husband’s military deployments.
“I feel like this has been the longest way to get my master’s,” Mabe said, laughing. “I took a couple of classes at NC State, then came here, and once I started with Extension, that’s when I took the other half.”
“Why not?”
Mabe grew up in the city and did not come from an agricultural background. Her foray into agriculture began when she was placed in an agriculture class in high school. Her friends were also in the class, so she decided to stay.
Then, a single comment shifted her trajectory.
“My freshman year, it was time for people to run for FFA office and my friend asked if I was going to run. I was like, ‘No, probably not,’” Mabe said. “My advisor overheard and said, ‘Why not?’ If I didn’t have another adult encourage me in this, I always think how different my path would have been.”
That “why not?” launched her into FFA leadership, an FFA American Degree and ultimately an undergraduate degree in agricultural education from North Carolina State University. She later taught high school agriculture before joining Clemson Cooperative Extension as Greenville County’s 4-H agent.
Turning knowledge into change
Mabe’s graduate experience pushed her into new territory she never imagined when she first pulled on that iconic FFA jacket. Her coursework introduced her to technology, artificial intelligence and policy. Rather than focusing solely on content, her graduate studies emphasized application. She learned how knowledge can be used to drive innovation and create meaningful change within communities.
For a 4-H agent serving a fast-growing county, that shift meant adopting new tools and new ways to reach people. It was an approach that stood out to her advisor, Dale Layfield, associate professor of agricultural education.
“Amie is an exceptionally creative and technologically savvy educator whose experiences teaching agriculture in South Carolina and North Carolina, as well as her service as a 4-H agent, have enriched every assignment in our program,” Layfield said.
Family, flexibility and carrying the torch
All of Mabe’s classes were online, a format she said made her degree possible while serving in Greenville and raising three young children.
“It was really a family affair getting this degree,” she said. “My newborn got to sit in on a lot of Zoom calls. The courses were still in-depth, and I still felt like I built relationships with my instructors, even though everything was online.”
Her children, now 6, 4 and 1, may not remember those moments. Mabe hopes they remember what those moments represented.
“I would love for all of them to go into agriculture — that would be amazing,” she said. “But at the end of the day, if they know what their passion is and advocate for it really hard, be loud about it and stand up for it, that’s what I’ve learned is really important.”
Along the way, mentors have encouraged her forward, including former Greenville County 4-H agent Patricia Whitener, who recently defended her dissertation.
“When I was congratulating her, she said, ‘Thank you. You’re next,’” Mabe said. “I just felt like she passed me the torch. Like, all right, we need more change agents out here.”
“Pursuing a degree is a real benefit of working for Clemson University, but it’s not for everyone,” Whitener said. “Watching Amie juggle a county program, a family and having a partner in the military was inspiring to me. She has the kind of fortitude we hope to instill in our 4-H youth.”
Paying it forward
For Mabe, completing her degree is less about the credential itself and more about strengthening her ability to serve — modeling persistence, curiosity and confidence for the young people watching her closely.
Her journey, from a student who stayed in an agriculture class because her friends were there, to a 4-H agent guiding the next generation, has come full circle.
And now, she is passing that encouragement on.
For colleagues across Extension who are considering a degree, Mabe’s message is straightforward.
“I would say do it,” she said. “We’re in a really awesome position to take classes as employees. The process of enrolling and even the financial part of it was super easy. Clemson does a really good job of supporting employees taking classes.”
