Seed to Feed - "I had to harness the purpose within myself."

“In spring of my freshman year of high school, I was accepted into Church Community Services’ Seed to Feed - Teen Growers program. At that time, I was working part-time at a movie theater, and I absolutely hated it. I wanted a job where I was not only content with the work given to me, but one that also gave me a sense of purpose in whatever I was doing - not a sense of dread. I can’t exactly remember how I came across the Teen Growers program, but I do know that as soon as I did, I immediately felt as though I found exactly what I had been looking for.

Once the internship began, I started to realize how deep my love for nature, the environment, and gardening actually was. We began discussing topics such as traditional versus sustainable agricultural practices, food sovereignty and injustice, individual and collective contribution to climate change, and ways I can personally advocate for all of these ideas in the world around me. I was taught how to provide for my local community through the wonderful world of agriculture: how to grow and harvest produce from the very beginning (seed starting) to the very end (harvesting and bagging produce for the pantry). By the end of the internship, I realized that finding purpose in my work alone would be impossible - instead, I had to first harness the purpose within myself. And through Teen Growers, I did just that.

After the internship ended, I continued to carry my love for home horticulture to my everyday life and I eventually built my own garden in the summer of 2021 out of recycled wood pallets and dirt from my local environmental center. I spent the whole summer gardening, and when my family ended up moving in early August of the same year, I spent the whole winter and spring planning and building a garden at my new house. I used the same format as my old garden, and had it built before and set up by spring.

While discussing my senior class enrollment options, my guidance counselor suggested I participate in the school’s internship program due to my near empty schedule. Though hesitant at first, I was soon unexpectedly reunited with one of my old Teen Growers leaders and was offered a potential internship back at Church Community Services as a Garden Intern! I have been at Seed to Feed for 7 months now, and through my time here, I can truly say that I have finally found my purpose. I am now planning to attend college to major in Sustainability, Ecology, and Policy, and I have no doubt in my mind that the lessons and skills acquired through both my Teen Growers and Elkhart High School Internship Programs will allow me to succeed and thrive in all my future educational and occupational endeavors.

I am not sure where I would be today if I had never taken the leap of faith that landed me in my past and present internships at Seed to Feed, and I can only hope that these programs will continue to inspire young adults like myself to find their purpose in life and change the world for the better.”