The Terp Farm Experience
I truly expected my summer to be full of endless physical labor with minimal educational experiences imbued in my day-to-day work life. Instead, I happened to learn so much more about how I work with people, my work ethic, and myself in less-than-ideal situations, and of course, my gratitude for the earth and farmers grew even more. Without a doubt, this internship has made it more apparent that I would want nothing more than to contribute to agriculture moving forward as a young adult.
From May 26th to August 18th, I took the job as an intern at the University of Maryland, College Park’s Terp Farm, Upper Marlboro Research Facility. Initially, the task of working almost 3 months straight with 40-hour workweeks, outside in the sweltering heat, seemed like an insurmountable task. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. I applied for this internship through the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland. Hoping to not only achieve my internship hour requirements, but to boost my knowledge and application of practices on a farm from my past experiences in agriculture.
My days consisted of waking at 6 in the morning, as work started at 7 on most days and lasted 8 hours. I still recall my first day, I was worried, not just for the work that was cut out for me, but the people I would be working with. What if I couldn't do the work? Would my coworkers be understanding if I wasn’t cut out for this? Was I strong enough? Could I even learn how to use all these new machines? Thoughts like these often arose, especially within the first month, but soon enough I realized that I was perfectly capable of contributing on the farm, exceeding not only my personal expectations of performance and growth, but also my supervisor's expectations of me.
Being on the Terp Farm intern crew consisted of me completing tasks from harvesting and planting basil, cherry tomatoes, banana and jalapeno peppers, watermelons, and more. In addition to the harvesting tasks, I was also given the job to complete consistent maintenance of the facility, from weedwacking entire fence lines and row crops, mowing on WHAMS and zero turns, hedge trimming, and even mundane tasks such as lopping random vines, and picking up sticks. Daily tasks also consisted of hand and knife weeding, irrigation system setup, caterpillar tunnel maintenance, washing, sorting, and packing produce, and even dealing with a shipment of produce to the university!
Stepping onto the farm, and driving up that long strip of road towards our parking spots, I felt nothing but a lingering sense of accomplishment… the work I was doing every single day was not just a mandatory task that fell onto me; it was a way for me to contribute to people in need, and help myself grow. When I was being taught how to use machines and utility vehicles, there were countless instances where doubt crept behind me, especially when dealing with older machines. Even so, I learned how to operate 3-4 separate tractors, 3 utility vehicles, and a countless number of miscellaneous handheld machines and equipment. I faced many hardships throughout the summer, but the most prevalent one, was getting over the learning curve of how to do something, sucking it up, and just doing it.
One of the most alarming instances, although not a true emergency, was when an irrigation pipe burst and my manager yelled at the intern crew for help; however, with over 3 inches worth of water flooding out of this pipe and streams flying in all directions, nobody moved an inch, nobody wanted to help. However, I sucked it up. Running out of the potato field I was previously weeding with my coworkers, I threw off my shoes, tore off my socks, and sprinted towards my boss, and plunged my hand into the murky water, frantically searching for the valve to shut the water off. In that moment, I chose to prioritize my work over my own self; I did not care I would get soaked, or that I would look like a wet dog afterwards, I was set, locked in on the task of helping, and that was my expression of my gratitude. As an intern, even if it wasnt much, helping my coworkers, the agriculture technicians, researchers, and the farm managers, this was my way of saying thank you to not only the people who took the chance on me, for allowing me to prove myself as a capable employee, friend, and worker, but also the few coworkers and supervisors for supporting me and allowing me to support them through this summer.
My internship ended early as college move-in was fast approaching; however, this bittersweet farewell left me not only with new knowledge of the farming experience, but also how I, as a student and employee can apply my newfound willingness to grow and jump head first into intimidating tasks, even if I am scared, nothing could be worse than me not trying my best.
