My agricultural heritage has shaped me into the person I am today. My parents and grandparents have instilled in me a passion for agriculture. I spent the first ten years of my life on large ranches, one encompassing 4,000 acres and the other 13,000. This rural background has influenced me in a variety of ways. Whether raising goats or living on a cattle ranch, I was constantly surrounded by livestock. My access to hunting and riding horses shaped my interests and passions. Through my family, neighbors and community I have gained a great appreciation for the rural, agricultural based lifestyle.
One decision that would have a tremendous and long standing impact on my life was my parent’s decision to homeschool me and my older sisters the year I began school. Prior to this decision, my sisters would leave early in the morning for school only to return in the late afternoon/early evening. This, coupled with the fact that as a Game Warden, my Papa worked nights, week-ends and holidays-basically when my sisters were out of school-meant little time together as a family. One of the primary benefits of this decision has been the strengthened relationship with my family. Now my family shares a closeness that is unusual for today. I value my sisters as two of my closest friends. I have always looked up to them and continue to …show more content…
Moving from Mason County, a small German area that did not even have a Wal-Mart in the county, was an expansion of my horizons. My first definition of community had been an economy rooted in the land – ranching, hunting, farming. Community was miles between neighbors. Community was a fifty-cent Coke at the feed store while my Papa visited with other men. Community was unlocked doors, burning barrels, and monthly gatherings at the community center. Although Brown County was rich in the goat and other ag industries, it also opened up opportunities I had never fathomed
One decision that would have a tremendous and long standing impact on my life was my parent’s decision to homeschool me and my older sisters the year I began school. Prior to this decision, my sisters would leave early in the morning for school only to return in the late afternoon/early evening. This, coupled with the fact that as a Game Warden, my Papa worked nights, week-ends and holidays-basically when my sisters were out of school-meant little time together as a family. One of the primary benefits of this decision has been the strengthened relationship with my family. Now my family shares a closeness that is unusual for today. I value my sisters as two of my closest friends. I have always looked up to them and continue to …show more content…
Moving from Mason County, a small German area that did not even have a Wal-Mart in the county, was an expansion of my horizons. My first definition of community had been an economy rooted in the land – ranching, hunting, farming. Community was miles between neighbors. Community was a fifty-cent Coke at the feed store while my Papa visited with other men. Community was unlocked doors, burning barrels, and monthly gatherings at the community center. Although Brown County was rich in the goat and other ag industries, it also opened up opportunities I had never fathomed