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

I stumbled into agriculture when I was in my first year of college, but I guess maybe I was always interested in it. Growing up in Petaluma, California I was surrounded by ranches and dairy farms and the people who they belonged to. I loved animals, being outside, and of course driving a big truck. When I moved to college to study engineering, I never really felt like I fit in with the other people in my classes. I was struggling in the same subjects that I excelled at in high school and I felt so out of touch with the goals I had set for my future. On a whim, I went with a friend to tour the school dairy farm, she was an Animal Science major.

Now I don’t remember entirely what happened in the year following that day, but I came out the other side a Dairy Science major, just starting as a Milker for the Cal Poly Dairy. From then on I poured everything I had into my work at the dairy and into my studies. I love learning about how cattle work on the inside and how they react to their environment on the outside. I also am incredibly grateful to have found myself surrounded by people who are like me! My friends in engineering were nice, but there’s nothing that compares to building relationships with people who have the same values, passion, and work ethic as I do. 

Building relationships with other people in agriculture is one of the most significant things I am looking forward to about this apprenticeship. I hope to create lasting bonds with mentors and peers alike that will help support me in my future. Of course, I also look forward to everything I can gain from being on my site. There are so many hard skills that I can practice and improve on here that will help me become a more confident worker. My mentor is also an incredible wealth of knowledge when it comes to reading animals and the land and I know there is so much I can learn from him. In addition to growing as a worker and as a student, throughout this apprenticeship I aim to grow as a person! This opportunity can push my limits, offer me new perspectives, and challenge me to become a better version of myself.