“I was used to chaos growing up. I lived in the downtown area of a town in Connecticut, so I was used to the constant hum of traffic and chatter as shoppers and diners went about their days. It wasn’t until I moved to the Upper Valley that I finally got to experience the quiet and calm of a Vermont forest.
I came to the Upper Valley to put my environmental science degree to use. While I originally planned to study biology, I realized quickly that my true passion is sustainability and understanding the balance of the plants and animals that call this planet home. I was nervous at first to leave the state where I grew up and went to school. I had no support network in Vermont and wasn’t sure how I would find a community. I often have a hard time feeling comfortable with new people, so I was worried that I may become isolated when I arrived in a new place without anyone to show me how to navigate the region.
What I learned is that the Upper Valley is a tight-knit community that will quickly jump in to support newcomers like me. From housing to job accommodations, people stepped up to help me figure out what I needed and how to get it. I went from knowing only a few people in my college department to knowing the names and lives of my coworkers at Billings Farm. I got to experience the Quechee gorge and see families as passionate about our beautiful planet as I am laughing and playing in the water. The Co-ops allow me to eat locally, and I now am able to compost and use solar energy, sustainable practices that I never knew could be implemented so regularly until I moved here.
I spend my days enjoying nature and teaching people from areas similar to where I grew up about the history of farming in the Upper Valley. It is a special pleasure when families from cities and urban areas come to the farm, and I get to show them a real-life cow up close for the first time. I have loved getting to connect with this area and embrace the peaceful, vibrant beauty of this place and the people in it. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but my hope is to be in the Upper Valley as long as I can.”
– Kira Diaz, Springfield, VT
