How did you get interested in agriculture? And what are you hoping to gain from your apprenticeship?May 2026

I grew up in a deeply Christian household, ever since a young age I could feel in my bones how we treated this land meant so much more to me than just a surface level understanding of keeping our earth healthy. Maybe, it’s because my dad is very connected to nature as well. He instilled that in my sisters and I through hunting and even just Sunday afternoon walks at the game lands as a family. I always carried the deeper meaning behind when my dad killed anything. That it was for food, but that we were also contributing to a healthier ecosystem, slowly making a difference in the overgrazing that white tail deer take full responsibility for in Pennsylvania. I have always felt it on a deeper level, even just knowing we were contributing to creating a healthier environment for animals, forage, water ecosystems etc. It made me feel a part of something bigger. That translated to my love and interest for Agriculture, and the change I want to make through my work. I still to this day carry those values in my everyday life, but especially in the work I do. I love the idea of using the animals God gave to us to fuel the land and vice versa. It fascinates me that we have basically been given all the tools we need to keep our land and all that comes with it healthy. Then of course there’s a downside to that. What happens when you make mistakes? What happens when you make a poor judgement call, and it takes years for the land to grow again? As scary as that sounds, that we don’t have all the answers, the land is forgiving. Not always, sometimes I think the land will tell you what it needs, other times it teaches you lessons. I have always been driven by the unpredictability and uncertainty the land will show you. I hope that through this apprenticeship, I learn to watch and listen to what the land needs, to sit in the stillness, to dig with my hands in the soil, to watch the patterns of what’s normally there and be able to recognize when something abnormal shows up. I hope to learn about the forage and the good and bad things it contributes to, and the benefits and dangerous qualities it has on our animals. I hope to grow a deeper understanding and learn a lot more than I ever anticipated.