My Favorite Memories in College

I have worked at my farm since I was nine years old. I’m twenty-four, so I’ve been working on the farm a long time. On the farm, I feed the animals, like bunnies, guinea pigs, and birds. I also teach people to feed the animals and hold the animals. The guinea pigs like to be held more than the bunnies. During the day, I will put goat food for the goats in the pasture. I work at the farm at my mom’s house.

I started the Scholars with Diverse Abilities Program (SDAP) in 2018 and graduated in 2020. While I was in SDAP, I did color guard, skiing, archery, and newspaper. I also really enjoyed photography and I took a lot of pictures. I like color guard because I did it for two years and in high school for eight seasons. In high school, I signed up and I went to practice. At Millbrook High School everyone was really nice, and I really enjoyed doing it. At Appalachian State, I liked color guard a lot better because college color guard was more fun and friendly. I made more connections with them when we went to New Orleans. I made new friends, and everyone was happier. I took pictures for the newspaper at App State. My mom also worked with the newspaper in 1983! For the newspaper, we had a lot of groups because we had a lot of people in the club. We would watch news videos. Also, during my time here, I did archery and skiing. For me, I started doing archery at home and then I did archery in college. In archery, your body is one line, and you have to face the target to shoot straight. This was my first time doing skiing, before Covid hit. I liked skiing, but I need to practice more. I had a hard time stopping so I want more practice.

One of my hobbies is photography. I was a teenager when I started taking photos. I saw my brother’s camera and I started taking pictures. My brothers told me I had a really good eye for the camera. And now I love photography. I like to take pictures of animals and flowers, or anything really. I also took photos for Coffee Talk. Coffee Talk is where the SDAP students make breakfast and coffee and people can talk to the SDAP students about their lives. Coffee Talk is a happy time. I was able to take pictures of what was going on there. I got to take a photography class in the art building, and I loved that class. Once my friends knew I was taking photography, everyone wanted me to take their pictures. I also get to take pictures of the animals and the guests of the farm. I don’t sell these pictures; I love to take these for fun and the guests love them too.

I got to travel with the school while I was a student. I went to NYC with my art class and to Washington, D.C., with SDAP. In NYC, I was in my art class, and we went to see plays and museums. My favorite plays that I saw were Come from Away and Anastasia. I also went to D.C. with SDAP. In D.C., we went to see museums and we explored the city. The museums were really cool, and I took pictures of what I saw. I took some pictures of the Holocaust Memorial Museum. My favorite picture was the one with all the faces. I really liked this art because I love to see different faces and their stories are interesting. It’s sad too. Since I love photography, this piece was really interesting to me.

Now that I have graduated and moved back home, I am still taking a lot of pictures and am loving photography. I take pictures of animals and faces, or anything I can find. I have a job at the farm from ten to five and get to continue feeding the animals.