How did you get interested in agriculture? And what are you hoping to gain from your apprenticeship?
May 2025

I grew up in the Washington D.C. area and started taking riding lessons when I was about 9 years old. That was my first introduction into agriculture. My one riding lesson a week was time spent outside with animals, that grew into working after school and over summers at the barn. During those years I also took multiple visits to an organization called Heifer International’s working ranches where I first heard of regenerative agriculture. They were rotating plants in their garden, moving their chickens throughout their pastures, and intensively grazing sheep and goats as well as rotationally grazing their cattle. When I got to college I realized the classes I was interested in were ones where I was learning about conservation and the environment. I took classes in water resources and smart growth urban planning, among other things. After school I got a job as a wrangler in Colorado. This was my first time in the west and was my first introduction into ranching. The ranch I worked on was a regenerative cattle operation. I was working with guests and mostly focused on horses and riding but got enough of a taste for ranching to realize this could be the thing that combined all of my interests and passions. Animals, conservation, environmentalism, community, all of these things come together within regenerative agriculture. 

Through this apprenticeship I am hoping to figure out what my niche in regenerative ag is. I have very limited experience in ag and want to figure out what makes me happiest and what I am most passionate about. Where can I put my talents to use and do the most good? I think learning as much as I can and making as many connections as I can over the course of this apprenticeship will only help me figure out where my interests are in this diverse field. I know this is a lofty goal and maybe I won’t have the answers at the end of the apprenticeship but I think it is an incredible step in the right direction.Â