Check out our fun new turquoise t-shirts that we received for being a part of the youth seminar at the 2010 Great Lakes Regional Dairy Conference! Celeste Laurent and myself focused on getting the kids excited about who they are and where they come from. Being young people ourselves, we can relate to the challenges kids sometimes face in being different from their peers because they live on a farm.

Growing up, I got teased a lot for living on a farm and liking things like 4-H and FFA. Obviously, today I don’t have these issues, and I really don’t care if people were to tease me, but at a young age where being popular and fitting in are huge, it can sometimes be difficult to stay excited about farming and ranching.

Overall, it was a great youth seminar with lots of participation from the kids. I truly enjoyed my time in Michigan working with the future of the dairy industry!