A Farm Girl in College

 

Calves and a cow in the setting sun (Taken by me, 2022)

    While it isn't something I talk about a lot at school, I grew up on a beef cattle farm. It might be easy for someone who doesn't know me to see me getting my bachelor's degree in English and think, "She must be punching her ticket off the farm." But that couldn't be farther from the truth.

    Some of my earliest memories are of following my dad around the farm. I might not have been born in a barn, but I spent a significant amount of time there as a kid. My family has been farming for generations, and I can't help but wonder if it isn't in our blood. Dad will be 77 next March and he shows no signs of stopping (he does threaten to sell off the cows when they make life extra difficult, but he never seriously means it). 

    While I have gotten pretty used to city life since going to college, I find that I do need to go home at least once a month for my mental health. There is something extremely healing about being out in the country. Another pastime for me at home is just being around the cows. As odd as it sounds, there is something relaxing about being around calm 1,500-pound animals.

    Of course, that doesn't mean that farming is all cuddly cows and relaxing scenery. Sometimes farming is going out several times a night when it is -20 degrees Fahrenheit to make sure none of the cows are having their calves yet. That is how I spent the first 10 days of 2022. During that time, we had premature twins die because of the cold, and they were just the first of several calves we lost this year.

    But, a few days after the twins, my cow, Boots, had her very first calf. It was a big, healthy bull calf born at 8 a.m. when it was only 3 degrees Fahrenheit outside. After we wrapped him up in a warm blanket for a few hours, he was the most adorable, bouncy little calf. At a day old he was running circles around his mom, which led me to name him Squirrel.

Squirrel at a day old next to his mom, Boots

    So why am I going to college if I want to farm? After all, a farmer doesn't need an English degree. 

    While farming is an important part of me that I don't want to give up, it isn't the only part of me. I also want to write books and become an editor. This farm girl isn't going to abandon her farm and everything about it that she loves, but she also isn't going to let it hold her back.