The past two weeks have been absolutely crazy!

The past two weeks have been absolutely crazy! I finally started college at California Polytechnic State University in beautiful San Luis Obispo! I have been having a great time so far, meeting lots of new people, exploring the town, and taking in the college experience.

I am living in the dorms for students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Most of the students living here are agriculture majors. It is exciting to learn about their different backgrounds and their future plans within the industry. I have even met a former dairy princess who is living down the hall.

Part of the college dorm experience, is having a roommate! I have heard so many roommate horror stories that I was actually kind of nervous to meet a complete stranger who I would be living with for the next year. However, I luckily get along great with my roommate! She is a nutrition major who grew up in a very urban area. Although, we have very different backgrounds, we have had a lot of fun learning about each other and trying to survive the first couple of weeks in college together.

We both discovered very quickly that when people joke about how bad college cafeteria food is, they are not joking. The food here is no laughing matter. We have actually been afraid to eat the food some mornings. So, to keep from starving, we now have a refrigerator in our room stocked with snacks. Even though the dorms are so small that we have to jump over it to get to our desks, it is definitely worth it.  And, of course, it is filled with lots of Real California Dairy Products. We have been eating lots of yogurt, cheese, and, my favorite, chocolate milk. Since we are busy and lazy, college students, we LOVE food that is convenient, tasty, and healthy.

Oh, I cannot forget about the other part of the college experience, classes! Today was my first day of classes here at the university. This morning, I had agriculture communications, general dairy husbandry, and political science. So far, they have all been great! I hope that the rest of my classes tonight and tomorrow will be the same way!

And do not worry - even though I am at college, I am still planning to continue with my Dairy Princess duties throughout the year. It will give me a chance to visit home! This weekend we are leading tours at a local Holstein Dairy. The following weekend, I will be giving presentations about dairy products and milking demonstrations at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair.

I have been attending the Harvest Fair for several years now, helping with the dairy cattle display. I would help catch the cows, haul them to the fairgrounds, spend several hours washing them, and then bed them down. All before nine o’clock in the morning! During the day, I would clean up after them and lead them over to the milk barn for the milking demonstrations. We would haul the cows back to the dairy that evening. And the next morning, around four, it would start all over again!

I am definitely looking forward to this event, and the many more to come!

Your District Three First Alternate Dairy Princess,

Mandy Brazil