"I’ve grown up on a family farm my whole life, and my goal is to take over the farm someday. So I came here to work toward a business administration degree—and college is a big reason. With how expensive college is, that was a no-brainer.

On our farm, it’s a 1,200-acre grain farm. We have 50 beef cattle, and we board about 200 Holstein heifers for a neighboring dairy. I feed cows just about every morning. I scrape manure three times a week. On the grain side, I’ll do tillage, roll behind the planter, run the grain cart—wherever they need me, really, is where I am.

I’m juggling all of it with school and sports. I’m at school until about 2 o’clock. Then I go home and go to work again, and football practice is usually 3:45 to 6—or sometimes 6:15 to 9. On those late practice days, I’ll work four hours, go to practice, and then end my day. It’s a lot, but I love farming. It’s what I want to do.

At school, I’m taking Business 101, and we’re building a business plan to present at the college. I’m in charge of the accounting for our group, which is pretty cool—because it connects back to real life and what I’ll need on the farm.

I’m also really involved in the greenhouse and aquaponics. I focus mostly on the fish—cleaning tanks, draining water, setting up automatic feeders, plumbing in water heaters, and fixing things when something breaks. There’s always something that needs to be done, and you have to figure it out and get it fixed.

Between the farm, school, and sports, I’m busy—but I wouldn’t have it any other way. My mom and dad tell me, ‘You’ve got the rest of your life to farm. You can only play sports for so long.’ I enjoy farming more than sports, but there’s still a place in my heart for sports, too.”