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Bridget Wilson, Class of 2014 is following her own path to successful farming!

Bridget Wilson never had to be forced into farm chores.

Growing up on the family dairy farm in Skye Glen, she knew what needed to be done and the 50 or so cows she tended were relying on her.

“Our parents didn’t force farm work on us,” she said. “It was something I really enjoyed. It can be tough but also very, very rewarding. You get to see the fruits of your own labour, watching crops grow, raising calves into cows and then milking them. The milk goes out into the community. It gives you a special connection to the animals, the landscape and people.”

She’s spent her young life harnessing that work ethic as well as her love of animals and agriculture.

That’s what guided the 22-year-old to Dalhousie University’s Agricultural College in Truro, four years ago.

There she blossomed. She enjoyed three years on the school’s woodsmen team, where her speciality was the quarter-split and water-boil events. She volunteered to tend the college’s garden. In her freshman year she played on the varsity basketball team. In her final year she was the editor of the school newspaper.

All of this helps to explain why she was chosen as class valedictorian at her convocation earlier this month. Graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture — majoring in animal science, minoring in genetics and molecular biology — Wilson remains indebted to the college for furthering her passion for farming.

Drawn to its emphasis on practical, hands on learning, she enjoyed hours tinkering in the college’s experimental farm. She was able to share her passion with, and learn from, a multitude of international students there — about a third of the college’s student population is from outside Canada.

“There are people there that come from cities wanting to work in zoos, and people who want to work at their own family farm. With such a broad perspective of people you learn to appreciate your differences and things that make you similar. We learned so much from each other.”

Fresh out of university, her eventual dream is to return to the family farm — she’ll have to sort out the particulars with her four younger sisters.

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