DJ Nedelko, Grade 12, St. Mary’s

Waking up each morning, my ears are filled with multiple noises signifying the beginning of a fresh new day: the monotonous buzzing of an alarm clock, the rush of the cars driving past my house, the sweet song of the birds in the trees. But there is no sound more distinguishable and meaningful to me than the loud MOOOO of the cows in the field outside my window. It reminds me of the special life I live, the ups and downs of it, the beauty of it, and the variety of it. Each day on the farm proves to be different than the one before.

When people first find out that I live on a farm, the first question I get is, “Do you have cows?” I say yes, to which people go on to ask, “Do you milk cows?” Well, to clear the air, yes, we do milk cows. In fact, we milk twice a day in fact, once at 4:30 a.m. and once again at 3:30 p.m. Now since the farm is my dad’s business, I’m thankfully not up milking the cows on most school days, but once I get home from school, it’s chore time!

At the barn, there’s always lots of work to be done. While most kids my age are hanging out with friends, playing Xbox, doing homework (well, the first two at least), I’m busy tending to the herd. The chore list changes with each season, but the basic, everyday tasks are to feed the calves their nursing bottles, feed the cows their food and water, put down their bedding, and of course, milk them! Cows aren’t like the traditional house cat or dog. They need a lot more food to sustain themselves, and this food could be hay, or corn silage (lots of chopped up corn). These jobs are very tedious and involve a lot of heaving, but someone has to do them.

Most days, the chores go fairly smoothly, but some days get frustrating. Equipment gets broken, animals get sick, and the barn gets flooded with rain. And when one of these problems occurs, it’s not like we can work on it later. Daily work is of the utmost importance and chores aren’t finished until everything gets cleaned up. There are other times, too, like when a teacher assigns a task for the night, and that is the same time when the temperature drops to -22 degrees Celsius, your stable-cleaner conveniently happens to break, and you have to spend a good 5 or 6 hours enduring the harsh wind and sleet. It’s not fun, believe me.

But there are definitely many more positives than negatives. Having lived on a farm my whole life, I’ve recognized the fact that my life is different from my friends’ lives. I may not be able to hang out with them every week, but I’ve been blessed with the chance to do things that many of my friends have not had the chance to do like racing through cornfields, building hay forts, driving tractors, bailing hay, and riding dirt bikes all over the wide expanse of land I live on. There have even been lucky days when I’ve been there to help deliver baby calves from their mothers. Birth is the beginning of a new, beautiful life, and I help raise these calves from when they are born to when they get so big that they could crush me. It’s all part of life on the farm, so I figure I’ll live it up large.

Living on a farm wasn’t my choice to make, but when I reflect back on the experiences I’ve had, I realize that I’ve been blessed with a gift, a unique lifestyle, one that never gets old, one that will continue to provide me with experiences and stories for years to come. The ultimate conclusion that I’ve come to is that if I didn’t have this way of life, I know I wouldn’t be the same hardworking, creative, energetic, and down-to-earth person I am today, and for that, I am thankful.

Now please excuse me, it’s 3:30, and I’m beginning to hear that familiar noise again… MOOOOO.