黑料社

Ethan Hawkland is assistant director of admission at 黑料社.聽

“I grew up 18 years on the family farm in the same house. I鈥檓 from a very small town called Collins, Georgia, where the closest grocery store is 30 minutes away. My family has lived in that town for generations, passing the farm down from my great-grandfather to my grandfather, and so on. I am an only child, so I didn鈥檛 have siblings, went to the same school for 14 years, lived in the middle of nowhere; I spent my whole life there. The first major move I had was when I went to college at Berry, all the way up in Rome, Georgia. Our farm is nice, in terms of that it does well for my family. But you聽have to聽understand that we live near Vidalia, and聽Vidalia聽sweet onions are a very big thing. The year that onions got really,聽really big, my grandfather聽did not get into the onion business. Because the way that farming works聽is you have to choose what crop you鈥檙e going to grow that year, and nobody knew that onions were really going to take off.聽So,聽the year they did, if you happened to already be in the onion business, you were set. But we didn鈥檛 grow onions that year.聽So聽we aren鈥檛 big-time onion farmers like a lot of people are down there. Our farm mostly consists of peanuts,聽soybeans, and then poultry chicken and beef cattle.

Then we have our personal gardens. You have what you farm to make your profit, and then you have what you farm to provide for your family. So, the peanuts, and the soybeans, that鈥檚 where you make your profit. But the family gardens are smaller, more intimately sized gardens that we grow for what we store for the winter鈥攕nap peas, cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, things of that nature. In the summer, we woke up at seven in the morning and聽went to the garden. We picked peas, or shucked corn all day, or whatever it was. It鈥檚 a very involved process. It’s not necessarily how you make your living, but it鈥檚聽very much聽your way of life.聽聽But for the most part鈥攁nd now my friends like to pick on me for this鈥攊f we didn鈥檛 grow it, I didn鈥檛 eat it. We聽had聽home-cooked meals all the time, because there wasn鈥檛聽really anywhere聽else to eat. My job growing up was cutting grass. I cut the grass for my great-grandmother, for my parents, and around the farm. From there, I upgraded to driving tractors and actually baling hay. My job in high school was baling hay鈥攖hat was my thing. And funny enough, when you go to Berry, their big thing is their premiere student work program. 99 percent of their students have a job on campus. And when you apply to Berry, they ask about your previous work experience, so they know where to place you. My first job at Berry was farm maintenance鈥攆ield work聽at the equine center. And I was like, this is all聽I’ve聽ever聽done聽my entire life鈥擨聽need something different!聽I ended up getting a job in campus scheduling, which was my first office desk job.聽That’s聽where I really fell in love with that type of work, and working in higher ed. It was a completely聽different experience聽than I had on the farm. Living in Atlanta is like living on a different planet. It goes back to the food thing, and how my friends make fun of me for only ever eating what we grew on the farm.聽I wouldn鈥檛 say聽I’m聽a picky eater, but聽I’m聽very much a creature of habit. I know if聽I’m聽going to聽HobNob,聽I’m聽going to get the Down South burger with no fried green tomatoes.聽A lot of times, I only try new foods when聽I’m聽in mixed company, and maybe they鈥檒l let me try something off their plate. The biggest thing my friends give me聽a hard time聽about is sushi. I never grew up eating anything聽like聽it鈥攖he first time I had celery was聽literally聽the聽first week I started working here. Because we聽didn鈥檛聽grow it on the farm!聽And聽I聽didn鈥檛聽have broccoli until college.聽There’s聽plenty that I聽haven鈥檛聽had. But I will say聽I’ve聽been eating a lot of sushi lately. I even had shrimp tempura the other day. I鈥檇 like to do more exploring, and Atlanta seems to be the best place to do it.”