My Davidson | A Student Blog Digging In: Experiential Learning at the Campus Farm
March 18, 2025
About the Author
Mena Tanner ’28 is an Environmental Studies major on the natural science track with a potential minor in Hispanic Studies or Anthropology.
Hometown: Ponce Inlet, FL
Campus involvements: Davidson Outdoors, Climbing Club, Sustainability Club, Wildcrafts Club
Upon arriving at Davidson, I became, for the first time in my life, a farmer.
I didn’t know much about the college farm before beginning my freshmen year. Only that they were hiring work-study students, and that if I got the position, I would get to work outside. As an intended environmental science major and a lover of all things outdoors, the decision to apply was an easy one.
That first day of work, I rode along the cross-country trails, following signs to the Davidson College Farm. As I walked my bike up the hills (like any good Floridian, I did not have a bike with gears), I savored the green escape from the bustle of orientation week, not knowing what to expect when I arrived.
Now, after a semester of planting, weeding, tending and harvesting with the other work-study students and the farm manager, I can say with certainty that the job has gotten me outside. It also has become a lot more than that: an opportunity to see my environmental science teachings in practice, a break from the constant mental effort of academic life and a place to connect with my fellow farmers and the life all around us through physical labor, laughter and good conversation.
As I have watched the farm change with the seasons, I also have witnessed the many impacts it has on my life and the lives of others in the Davidson community. It is one of the coolest feelings, walking into the dining hall and seeing the Sungold tomatoes we harvested the day before sitting on the salad bar, their taste exponentially better than the ones on the grocery store shelves. Also impactful is sitting in a circle on the grass, shucking the traditional kus iswq corn variety as a part of Davidson’s collaboration with the Catawba Nation, learning about Indigenous foods, sustainability and the people who were here first. I love arriving at the farm after a long morning of classes and homework to finally give my brain a break and get my hands in the dirt.
These are just a few of the meaningful experiences I have had on the farm, and as a freshman not even a quarter into my time at Davidson, there are sure to be more. The farm is a place of experiential learning and growth, and it is a wonderful feeling to be out there doing something. We get our hands dirty, share knowledge and stories, and learn how to live in connectivity with the earth rather than in opposition to it. It is experiences like this that contribute to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the natural world, something that is essential if we want to help it.
It is getting warmer now, on the margin of winter and spring, and my farm days are spent preparing the fields and high tunnels for their next crop. Soon we will be planting seeds again, and continuing to grow.
