Late in my high school career, I embarked on a journey into a world of agriculture. This was something I had always been interested in, but I never had a great opportunity to join any kind of agricultural community. This is one of my reasonings for going out on a limb. Now, after completing two years at Delaware Valley University, I have a good amount of knowledge and observations from my peers, hall-mates, and classmates about life on a variety of farms. These kids have the best work ethic that I've ever seen and they take pride in everything they do.
These are some of the biggest observations and my favorite things about the Agriculturally related friends I have made at DelVal:
1. Some days sleep isn't an option.
I know many times I would wake up around 4 a.m. and hear people in my dorm heading down to the dairy. These kids might have been running on two hours of sleep or less, but they never complained. They would go about their day as usual because they take pride in their work and responsibility for themselves.
2. They are the most involved individuals on campus.
At DelVal, Ag kids are involved in sports, a wide variety of clubs, jobs, and they still manage their social lives. Some days, these kids are up by 4 a.m. and still going by 11 p.m. They are the best self motivators.
3. Animals and crops are their lives.
Since I don't come from any kind of crop or animal background, these kids are always there for me to answer all my questions (no matter how basic of a question it might be).
4. Family is priority.
You wouldn't know it, but being away from the farm for most of these kids is one of the toughest obstacles they face daily. Some of them have farmed their whole lives and hearing their stories about the farm is always great. It's clear how much farming means to them from their tone of voice and glimmer in their eyes. One of the greatest aspects of DelVal is getting to join clubs and organizations on campus. This helps fill the "family role" when they are away at school!
5. Losing anything is gonna kill them on the inside, but on the outside they'll rarely show it.
These kids grew up with bad years of crops and some livestock dying. When this happens it could be detrimental to their income, but they usually put on a brave face because they know their way of life has it's ups and downs. This is why they have the work ethic that they do, they are fast to move on to the next operation.
6. They make the best friends.
These kids know what it's like to be in a close-knit family and even at DelVal they make time for their friends and they are always there for them regardless of the time of day or how busy they might be with classwork.
As you can see, migrating from Eldersburg, Maryland to college three hours away to DelVal (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) has been quite a change of scenery and way of life for me, but I am more than grateful for the life lessons and determination the other Ag kids I am surrounded with have. I can't think of any better way to branch out and educate myself in the world of agriculture than from kids that grew up on the farm. Some of my closest friends from college were raised on the farm and I am glad I have them in my life because they fit all of these six aspects perfectly.
