New Experiences - Madison

My name is Madison, and I am going into 11th grade at Waynesboro High School. I discovered Project GROWS through my agriculture teacher, Ms. Barrows. In her class we visited Waynesboro Education Farm. I was originally going to work for them this summer until I was introduced to Project GROWS and the YLA program.

YLA has changed my perspective on how I see farming and the people who do it. I always thought farming was easy until this summer. I've come to appreciate farmers a lot better now, after seeing and being able to experience what it's like. This summer had a lot of ups and downs, like the heat this summer was terrible but being able to go out into the community and meet new people was amazing because it allowed me to branch out of my comfort zone and enhance my public speaking skills.

Another great thing I enjoyed was working with the campers who came through—all of them were really sweet but also really crazy! Along with meeting new people it was really nice to work with new people from different schools this summer because I was able to see who was in the schools around me. This summer I learned a lot of new things like different names of weeds, and plants, and also learned how to prep a bed before planting. 

This experience meant a lot to me because it got me out of not only my house but also my comfort zone this summer. It also gave me a lot to be proud of. I'm very proud of putting myself out there and doing something I've never done before. The staff were also very kind and welcoming, helping me to branch out easier without feeling judged. This job also helped my social awareness skills, like when I was working with the campers I had to stay aware of the kids to make sure nobody got hurt, or when I was using a certain tool I had to make sure nobody was too close around me so I didn't hit them.

This was probably the best way I could have spent my summer, because I was very productive and I wasn't just sitting around and moping around all summer, and it also just felt great to help out the community I live in. I do recommend this job to anybody, especially those who are thinking about an agricultural future, because this job allows you to branch out, it gives you a bit of what the experience of farming is like, and it gives you something valuable to do over the summer. I would definitely do this job again!