Oh thats nice honey

To begin, I am a sustainable development major, and I will omit explaining what it means because I believe most of us have a basic understanding. I usually just tell people who give me puzzled looks that we try to save the world. Oh, they respond. Actually, if there were a sustainable agriculture concentration I would have chosen it because that is where I am most interested within the major. I believe it is safe to say that I have a moderately diverse pool of interests that have led me to this point in my life. One of the most significant influences has been my aunt and uncle’s goat dairy farm located near Greensboro. Their farm provided me a blissful setting in which to escape the harassments of suburban life in Dallas, Texas. From my experiences vacationing and working on their farm I have gleaned a passionate respect for the traditional knowledge of farm women (not to discredit or exclude men, of course, but I guess I just relate to women a little better.) I feel a sense of nurturing is at the core of my interests, experiences, and decision making. Sustainable agriculture is one method of channeling those feelings into something practical. I am very interested in preserving local farm knowledge (in the form of slow foods, garden techniques, artisan cheesemaking, canning/food preservation, sewing, baking, etc.) as the avalanche of new technology pushes us further and further away from a diminishing way of life. I often muse about the complex relationships between the acceptance and resistance of traditional vs. modern technological approaches to agriculture in our current system. Someone needs to make it a point to keep the old traditions alive and I think that’s where I will find my place in life.
Besides Goat Lady Dairy there are several other intellectual influences such as my peaked interest in traveling and investigating other cultures. This past summer I spent a month in France and I have some background with Hispanic (specifically Mexican) culture from living in Texas. I believe my interest in food culture will provide a doorway into various cultures I may want to experience. I feel there is a direct correlation between my palate and my open acceptance to new ideas. I have never been a picky eater which has led me to try stinky cheeses, ethnic foods, and wine, which has caused me to seek out the productions (material and cultural) and origins of those things. In the same respect, my openness to new ideas has allowed me to join wacky, but completely intellectually stimulating groups like Watauga College and IDS. I would like to make mention here of one of the greatest IDS classes I have ever taken, Movement in the Expressive Arts, which challenged me to express myself and taught me a great deal about different learning perspectives. I am also a member of some less wacky, but very commendable organizations such as the Slow Food Movement and Carolina Farm Stewards.
My experiential education has been made up of crummy, but valuably informative restaurant jobs, the rewarding labors of farm chores, and my intermittent responsibilities for saving lives and caring for injuries. In high school I had decided I wanted to be an athletic trainer as a career, and I was very serious about it. I showed so much enthusiasm that I was put in charge of all the other student trainers for 3 years. Then I gave it up to save the world. This past year I became lifeguard certified and worked for the Blowing Rock public pool. I am officially unable to explain my desire to respond to people’s traumatic accidents, but maybe it has something to do with wanting to be a leader. Hopefully I can channel these possible leadership skills into encouraging a more sustainable world. I also love to swim.