A Different Side of Civic Engagement
A Different Side of Civic Engagement
Cynthia Harris (AS, ’18) had a unique civic engagement experience volunteering at Greyrock Farm. She and her friends cleaned and milked cows, bottled the milk to be sold, herded the cattle, and even bottle-fed calves. They collected chicken eggs, cleaned them off, and packaged them to be sold. Finally, they brushed horses, and even built a pen for piglets from scratch.
The experience allowed Cynthia to see a whole different side to civic engagement. Working on a farm allowed her to make a difference within a small business and individual person’s life, as well as the life of the farm animals. She learned how hard it is to keep a farm running smoothly, and also realized the emotions that farm animals experience. Being separated from the food we eat enables us to ignore that fact that these are animals that have emotional connectivity.
Cynthia realized that “civic engagement is thought of as making a large difference in the community, but even making a small difference within a small business and even the life of animals counts towards something bigger. In subsequent experiences I will look at the small factors that play into a bigger role.”