Shelburne Farms!

I spent a week volunteering as a "Steward In Training" in the Children's Farm Yard at Shelburne Farms. Here's some lists, and some pictures!

PROS:

Really cute animals! It was fun to spend time with types of animals I usually don't interact much with (like calves!)
The staff are all super nice and supportive! I really enjoyed talking with some of them about their backgrounds and current role at the farm, and they made sure to include me (and the other SIT) in their daily tasks.
Learning! For me, this wasn't a huge learning experience because of my previous experiences raising animals, but I did learn more about how the farm works, and some specific things about animals. I also learned a bit more about how to create safe and respectful interactions between children and animals, which is something I am always happy to learn more about, since I have animals that I love to share.
Pretty relaxed environment! I was allowed to have my phone on me, the dress code was very loose (The Shelburne Farms shirt, and I chose to wear jeans everyday, but pretty short shorts were allowed) and there was also a lot of flexibility in what chores I could do, or what activities I wanted to be apart of. In moments where I didn't actively have a task, I had a bunch of different things I could do to be helpful (like monitor the chicken coop, clean up the play room, or, if it was slow enough, take out an animal for a meet and greet with a staff member). I wasn't ever given a clear schedule ahead of time, but ended up being pulled into programs when staff asked me to help, or attending an activity that I wanted to assist with.
Volunteering! It was definitely a "work hard, play slightly less hard" type of week, because quite a lot of my time was spent doing farm chores. I filled water, moved sheep, swept, raked, and refilled hay, quite a bunch! Official "chore time" is at the end of the day, and tasks also need to be done at the beginning of the day, so I assisted with those as well as cleaning and refilling during the day.
Interactions with people? I do really having conversations with people in that "museum setting" where you can teach people things and entertain kids and never know what interaction might happen! It is fun to see kids with animals, and fun to see adults learning new things!

CONS:

Unfortunately, because of my previous experiences, it didn't feel quite so much like "wow, this is what it's like to be on a farm!" and instead just felt like me doing the animal chores I have to do at home, but all day long. It got a little boring? It definitely wasn't always super engaging and this made the days feel long and draining. I think this program is better for teens with less experience with farming, but are ready to jump right in and learn!
I didn't feel like I was given enough responsibilities for me to be pushed out of my comfort zone and really grow or gain leadership. I think for someone without animals, this program probably does this successfully. Almost everything I did with, or around, the animals had to be supervised by a staff member (they weren't even sure if I was allowed to pick up a chicken, my first day!) and I was rarely assigned a chore to do by myself. Towards the end of the week, I was trusted more, and was allowed to take out a goat for kids, do a chicken meet and greet, and go into pens to fill water and food alone.
Long, long, days! I was super tired and drained after every day, and it didn't give me enough time or energy to get done many personal tasks (like doing math, because I'm still not finished...)
The lack of structure sometimes made me feel like I was just sitting around, or wasn't sure if In was doing the right thing. It also would've been nice to have more of an idea of what the day would look like, or at least know what time my lunch break was! I ended up just breaking for lunch whenever it looked like I'd have a chunk of time where I wouldn't be needed.
The pregnant goat didn't have her babies while I was there :(

Pictures! And videos! And captions because I have so much to say about everything!

Cat (the woman in charge of the program) took me for a tractor ride down to the lake as a break, and to pick up people! Cat is super cool. Down to earth, but still enthusiastic! I really like Cat (and tractor rides!)