I grew up differently from most people I know. That’s because the place I call home is a small farm. I have raised sheep for twelve years and have been not only a member but also reporter, secretary, and president of one of the many 4-H clubs in my area. There’s no denying that this unique upbringing leaves its mark on a person. As I went through my first year at college, I realized how different my childhood experiences were due to my upbringing. Here are some ways growing up on a farm has made my life a little different.

1. When I was in high school, it was not uncommon for me to leave in the middle of class during February and March.

This is lambing time for me. Thus said, these two months are also the two months when I always got the least sleep. For those that don’t know, lambing is when a sheep gives birth. We aimed to have lambs born in late February or early March so they would be old enough to show at the fair. I remember one year when I had to leave my Spanish class multiple times, but my teacher was always okay with it as long as I brought pictures of new lambs the next day.

2. I know when to change my clothes and when to throw a jacket over my favorite sweater and hope everything works out.

Living on a farm taught me the value of time and my clothing. Sometimes there is no time to change clothes, so you hope and pray that whatever gets on them can come back off. (This also means I know some great laundry hacks.) Also on the topic of clothes, I’m totally okay with changing my clothes five or six times a day. From pajamas to sheep clothes for the morning feeding to school clothes to sheep clothes for the evening feeding to pajamas. Sometimes I would have to change even more than that if I had an event in the evening or sports practice.

3. I have some super weird stories.

This includes one about Milk Duds, a barn floor, and a very confused fair worker. But I’ll just leave it at that.

4. Dirt? Mud? Manure? Doesn’t faze me.

Of course, if I’m in formal attire, I may just get angry about a little mud. Other than that? I just don’t mind getting a little dirty anymore. Between long days cleaning out barns and pens to even longer days at the fairs to everyday life, I’ve given up on getting dirty being a real problem in my life. On the other hand, I have a real respect for showers and I really value them in my life.

5. I know to put in the hard work, months in advance.

A show in mid-August means preparations start in the end of May. I raise and show wool sheep, so the process for getting ready for a show is long and tedious. We keep the wool on our sheep for show, and so it all has to be clean (without using soap and water) before I take the animal in the show ring. Also, though, I know that sometimes putting in the work doesn’t guarantee a favorable outcome. Sometimes, a judge at one fair will love your showing style, but the next judge will hate it. The whole thing is subjective.

6. Finally, my material possessions will never mean as much to me as the experiences I have and the people I get to meet.

As I write this, I’m sitting across my room from walls and boxes and shelves full of trophies, plaques, medallions, and ribbons. While I value my accomplishments, they are not what I remember most from these experiences I’ve had. I remember when I was ten and my sheep was way bigger than me and almost ran me over in the show ring. I remember the feeling of looking at a sheep ready for a show and knowing that no one else could have done it better. I remember learning how to spin and knit and weave. The trophies? They do mean a lot. But at the end of the day, they’re just paperweights collecting dust.

Growing up on a farm has changed me. I don’t ever sleep in at home and I always have to be ready to tackle a problem on the farm. Without these last twelve years with sheep though, I wouldn’t know the joy of befriending an animal, the value of hard work, or the pride in a job truly well done that may not be appreciated by everyone. After all, anyone can read a paper and recognize that it took work and has value, but not everyone can look at a sheep in a show ring and recognize how much work it took to get to that one oh-so-valuable moment.