Well, to go way back, I am originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. I lived there until I was about fifteen years old when my mom, step dad, younger brother, and I relocated to McDonough, Georgia. I had a pretty ordinary, run of the mill childhood in middle class suburbia. I never lived on a farm, I never had any animals other than a cat/dog, and I never thought I would be even remotely interested in getting involved in agriculture at all. I didn't have any experience at all with large animals or any other kind of animals until I started my first semester at the University of Georgia as a freshman.
I have wanted to be a vet ever since I was little--along with first woman president, teacher, and professional dog trainer, just to name few--but for the most part I had only ever seen and experienced the small animal aspect of that world. Upon entering UGA's College of Agriculture and Environmental Science as an Animal Science major, I was very unceremoniously thrown into the large animal side of things. I began my first semester in a poultry science class that required me to handle and dissect chickens at least once a week as well as an animal science class that required me to learn the basics in large animal nutrition, reproduction, and management. As the second semester rolled around, I enrolled in an animal practicum class where I learned how to set and sheer sheep, administer vaccinations, freeze brand cattle, and to ear tag any number of livestock.
In the middle of all the crazy classes, I joined a few clubs such as Block and Bridle, Dairy Science Club, GA Cattlemen's Association, the committee for the Great Southland Stamped Rodeo, and the professional agriculture sorority, Sigma Alpha!
Needless to say, once I got my foot in the door of the Animal and Dairy Science department, I was hooked! The more I got involved, the more I feel in love with the world of agriculture and large animal medicine! My desire to get even more involved and to get a little more hands on experience with animals lead me to get a job at the UGA Teach Dairy. I have been working there since January, and have already moved into the position of calf manager on the farm. In this position, it is my job to schedule vaccinations for our calves, manage their feeding charts, make any calls to the vet for medication or visits we might need, managing their weaning schedules, and getting them registered with the Holstein Association. I spend tons of time with these cute little faces every week, and I love every minute of it!
My involvement on the farm and my desire to be an AGvocate and spread the word about agriculture and its practices led me to creating this blog! I am currently involved in the College Aggies Online scholarship program and I am making this scholarship both as a way to enteract with the program and as a way to enter act with other people about my experiences in agriculture! Most of what I will talk about in the blog will relate directly to my life working on the UGA dairy, and my day to day interactions with the animals and people there.
Even though I was prompted to create this blog to participate in a scholarship program, I am very excited to get started on it! I think that transparency is a very important aspect of the agriculture industry and I hope to be able to show people that not all production agriculture is bad! We love our babies and our milking ladies at our dairy, and all we want is for them to be happy and healthy!
I hope that you subscribe and follow along on my days as a Dairy Dawg! Have a good day and God Bless!
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