Growing up in a family of farmers is different than just having parents with 9-5 jobs. You become a full time farm employee as soon as you can walk, and you learn countless lessons about hard work, dedication, and life in general. Having come from a farm background, I believe the values you develop from farm life are values that every person should have.
I won't pretend to know every aspect of farm life. After all, my immediate family only farmed part time, and we began renting out our land when I was in 8th grade. We never raised livestock, and we didn't have our own farm until I was 9. However, I do have a taste of what it means to be a farmer. When I was little, I spent 5-6 days a week on my grandpa's farm, with more time spent playing when I was really small and more time spent working as I grew older. I sat on my dad's lap every weekend while he watched TV shows about the farm market, and I listened to hundreds of conversations among my uncles who farm full time. During all these times and during my own time spent on the farm, I picked up on quite a bit about what it means to be a farmer. Being a farmer is more than simply planting crops, waiting for them to grow, and harvesting them when it's time. Being a farmer involves being a business manager, an accountant, an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, a risk assessor, a chemist, a mechanic, and more. You learn more than just how to make plants grow. You learn to balance a tight budget, keep an expense report, and decipher financial forecasts. You learn to run a chainsaw and to cut a tree so that it falls where you want it. You learn to build fences and repair them over and over again. You learn to know what chemicals to spray and which seeds to plant. You learn to change the oil in a tractor and work on a combine. You learn to back a trailer into a small shed between other large pieces of equipment. You learn to mix, pour, and finish concrete, perhaps even laying a hand print in it when no one is looking. You learn time management, when you’re still in the fields at 11 p.m. and you have school at 8 a.m. You learn to drive, when your dad gives you the tractor wheel at 7 years old. You learn loyalty and companionship, when your dog follows you back and forth, back and forth, between the barn and the shed, never leaving your side and even showing some affection with a face lick when you squat down to change a tire. You learn patience, when the beans desperately need rain but you’re in the middle of a drought. You learn an expansive vocabulary of curse words and insults, when the part doesn’t fit or the cable snaps. You learn to say sorry, when you’re apologizing to God for that vocabulary. You learn to work hard, when you see your dad get up at dawn and work outside in the bitter cold until the sun goes down. You learn selflessness, when you see your mom come home from working all day, cook dinner, cheer for you at your softball game, and still manage to run farm errands late into the night. You learn to make long to-do lists and to add two more things every time you cross something off. You learn faith, when the weather has destroyed the crops and there’s nothing you can do but pray. You learn the meaning of family, when you sit down for breakfast together every Sunday morning, no matter what. You learn the work is never done and to make the most of the time you get to relax. You learn to put God first, family second, friends third, and yourself last. You learn to be grateful for everything you have, for you have so much. You learn to ask “What can I do?” instead of “Are we done yet?” You learn that things will never be perfect, but life without hardships is a boring life anyways. You learn that happiness comes from doing what you love and being with those you care about, because money and material objects really don’t matter that much after all. When you grow up on a farm, you learn a lot of things. These things aren’t something you can learn at school or from a textbook. These are things you learn from the examples set by others and from actually experiencing these lessons yourself. Farm life is a culture of its own, and it’s a culture that takes root in the heart of every person that has worked on a farm. I am happy to have grown up on a farm, and it is something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.
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This past semester, one of my professors at Bradley, Dr. Erin Schauster, challenged each of us in class to keep a blog. Every week, she gave us thought questions that were related to the advertising-themed content we would cover that week. In response to these questions, we would find real-world examples and write a blog post. This experience not only helped me to develop a better awareness of advertising concepts, but it also encouraged me to take time each week to review what I know and share my thoughts with others.
Prior to this post, all my blog entries have been responses to the weekly thought questions. Now that the semester is over, however, my blog will begin to feature a wider variety of posts. Sure, some still may be advertising related because I have been fortunate enough to choose a career path about which I am passionate. But overall, each post will most likely be a reflection of my thoughts on life. I have been blessed with many things in life, and for this, I am extremely grateful. It is my hope that I will continue to take the time to be thankful for these blessings and that these thoughts will inspire more blog posts. Although I doubt I will write entries every week, I will still make an effort to check in every once in a while. So with that, thanks for a great semester and I look forward |
Kristin KreherMy happiness comes from meaningful interactions, the outdoors, thrift shops, and saying "thank you." Archives
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