Hey all, I’m Dennis Atiyeh, an Agricultural and Animal Science major. I’d like to briefly talk about the first few weeks of my internship with Quirine Ketterings’ Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP).

To be honest, I never worked anywhere other than the family farm before this summer. All of my previous summers were spent at home working on the family farm with familiar faces and locations, so when I arrived for my first day of work at Morrison Hall, oh boy was I in for a surprise. Upon arrival, I saw no familiar faces. I had a butterfly effect of feelings. I only thought of how little experience I had in research and field work and how bad I would feel if for some reason I was to single-handedly destroy the NMSP.

But that has not happened. Yet.

From grinding soil to sampling alfalfa plants, there always seems to be something that needs to be done. There’s never a dull moment here at the NMSP. I manage to survive the work day and learn a tremendous amount from projects I partake in with NMSP.  Perhaps most importantly, I thoroughly enjoy being a part of the program because of the people around me.

I work with a bunch of great people whom we share many common interests, goals and humor. After a few weeks of work, I realized with some conversation and good laughs that I formed close bonds with everyone. Instead of hating myself for getting out of bed early each morning, I look forward to waking up to see everyone at the Nutrient Management Spear Program and making memories everyday.

Hanging out at the North American Manure Expo in Chambersburg, Pa with Isaac Cornell (left) and Andrew Lefever (right). Behind us are dry manure spreaders performing demonstrations for the large crowd of people (Spoiler alert for my next post…)