In a small, rural Illinois town...

I was born and raised in Bridgeport, Illinois, a small community that loves Jesus and agriculture. While growing up, I witnessed how my parents harnessed horticulture to positively impact our lives through nutritional food grown in our home garden. My parents, like our neighbors, took canning seriously and we enjoyed the fruits of our labor all year long. This annual hard work cultivated an attitude that proclaimed, "I'm no better than you, and you are no better than me." During my childhood it never failed that my parents were taking care of someone; my grandparents, great aunt, or even neighbors. This devotion taught me that we must all do our part to help the village, an attitude I see reflected in American agriculture. Somehow, between the veggies, flowers, and chickens, the idea of the home agriculturalist was lost on me. It was not till I was sitting in my freshman Intro to Ag class that I realized that even as a town kid, my family was apart of agriculture. 

​

Since my life-altering revelation, I work to ensure that other non-farm kids, understand that they can be agriculturalist too, even if their parents don't drive a tractor. I currently am pursuing my passion for learning more about urban agriculture and how we can all be agriculturalist in our own way. 

​

I take an immense amount of pride that I do not come from a traditional ag background and that I choose to be an agriculturalist. I hope to encourage other individuals to live a life of caring and cultivating the earth while being a life-long learner.