Life never gets boring as a California Dairy Princess

Life never gets boring as a California Dairy Princess. I recently went home for the Harvest Fair in my county to help out with sundae eating contests and to talk to the public about my position. But since starting school at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo (go Mustangs!) I have found myself explaining a lot more of what it means to be a Dairy Princess. My dorm here at school is part of the connections program, meaning it mixes all majors together so students can get to know people with different interests. My roommate is a business major, my neighbors are kinesiology and biology majors, and my across the bathroom neighbors are journalism and engineer majors. We all get along so well but when they found out about my title you can imagine some excitement. The majority of the people I live with have never been to a farm, never touched a cow, never wondered about how the dairy industry works. And that's okay. No one expects any one to go out and investigate something that is not part of immediate everyday life. But what we have all been helping each other to understand is that the dairy industry is much more closely related to all of us than we thought. In fact the more I think about it, the more I see how strong the relationship is. All of our majors, no matter how different they may be, are all tied to it: business to the current market prices, kinesiology to nutrition of milk, biology to the care and maintenance of cows, journalism to such hot topics in the media today as animal rights, and engineering to creating sustainable machinery for the green movement. It's been so much fun to encourage my friends in the dorm to look at the dairy industry as a possibility to explore in the future. And, of course, I have made promises to most of them to bring them home with me so they can learn how to milk a cow!

So, I have learned that my role as a Dairy Princess doesn't just apply when I am wearing my crown and sash. I am constantly looking for opportunities to make a difference. In a few minutes, actually, I will be headed down to a rally that is going on out at the Cal Poly Dairy. We decided to organize ourselves today to voice our hope for alternative solutions to the problems that currently face our school's dairy today. If you haven't been informed on this issues, not to worry... I will be back with more information soon and a recap of our efforts went!

And one last thing... thank you for your interest in what we do as Dairy Princesses. All of these girls are so proud of the work they will do this year, including me. It is such a pleasure to know that our efforts are being heard. Please continue to explore that interest.

Sincerely,

Hope Hanselman, District 3 Dairy Princess