More than a Classroom Education

One of the classes I am enrolled in this semester requires each student to spend 2 nights at the University Farm for "calf watch." It is pretty self-explanatory: the student checks cows throughout the night to watch for new calves being born. Last night, instead of watching the super bowl and pigging out on all of the delicious recipes my friends made, I spent my night waking up every 2 hours to walk through the cow barn and get newborn calves under a heat lamp and separating cows that were going into labor.

As exhausting as it was waking up every 2 hours throughout the night to work with cattle, I couldn’t help but think about the education that Ag students get and how much it differed from the many other majors on my college campus. Every Ag student has numerous classes that take place at the farm and offer the student hands-on education and experiences.

I cannot count the times that other students have asked about my classes and been so intrigued to hear that we go to the farm and work with animals as part of our course work. The experiences I have had growing up on a farm and now learning even more about the industry on the University Farm are experiences that so many of my peers will never get. A lot of my education has taken place in the classroom learning about the science behind the animal industry, but the applied education I have received on the farm has really strengthened my knowledge and passion for the animal ag industry.

How many other college students can say they stayed up all night helping cows give birth and helping them care for their newborns? As tiring as it was, it was a rewarding experience and one that I know I am lucky to have as an Ag student.