This I Believe by Shiloh E.

When I first moved to my new house, I was ten years old.

My family and I had moved to a huge farm. We had no idea how to farm and

no intention of it until we moved.

We started with a couple of chickens and a small garden for us to eat healthier and

save money on expensive, organic food. I learned to feed and take care of the animals,

fix and plant the gardens, and keep maintenance on the farm. It was hard work, but I

thought to myself, ¨Okay, this is easy, just a couple hours a week working.¨ We then

eventually moved to a hundred chickens and a bigger garden with more varieties and

quantity of vegetables. The work got harder and the days got longer as we expanded

and soon enough our farm had hundreds of laying hens, chicks, thousands of meat

chickens, and huge fields to plant; it turned into a full-time job.

I was 12 - 13 years old at the time and I was working my summers and winters

away taking care of our farm because I had to. I hated every second of it. While I was

working in a field or helping birth pigs at 1:00 am or shoveling literal tons of chicken

manure, my friends were out having fun. And I was learning everything there is to know

about farming, hard work, a job, and having responsibility. I would wake up early on the

weekends and weekdays to go out in the fields, rain or shine, thinking I was wasting my

life away working with my family. I used to hate for the weekends to come and instead

wished to go to school to get away from the work and pain of it.

When I used to wrestle in middle school and during the winter, I would have to go

to wrestling practice and then come home at 6:00 pm in 30-degree weather to take care

of the animals which took 45 minutes to an hour. It was painful and tested me in every

way.

Through these times, I was only thinking about when it would be over or when

would I be able to get away from the place I disliked so much. I never understood until

recently, now that I am older and wiser, that my dad was preparing me with that stupid,

amazing farm. Of course, I complained because I didn't want to work, but I knew It was

good for me. I knew once all the pain and heartache was over I would be blessed with

the knowledge and patience, and especially the dedication of what it takes to survive in this

world. I would not change my past in any way, because without that job I would not be

who I am today. I believe that determination and hard work are essential for every

person to learn and to understand a small amount of what the real world is like, and

working on a farm is a great way to start!