Jennifer Mitchell, BSc (Hons) Agriculture, Edinburgh

“I grew up on my grandpa's farm and I worked on it all the time. That’s until I went to school, where I just kind of lost interest in it a wee bit when I left. I didn’t think farming was what I wanted to do, or a career I wanted to tie myself to, I thought there might be more.”

Jennifer Mitchell, like many others, finished high school without a plan. Who she wanted to be, where she wanted to go, what she wanted to do, these were all questions the 25 year-old didn’t have the answers to, answers that she keenly needed,

“I tried a few different things, I was an apprentice at a nursery, I had various retail jobs, but nothing clicked” she said.

“Then 2019, my grandpa’s health began to decline a bit, so I was needed at home. I worked part-time at the farm and found I absolutely loved it. I realised there was so much I didn’t know, so I chose SRUC in Edinburgh for study. I wanted to learn everything I could to help out as much as possible.”

When she first started study, she had a clear idea of what she liked and what she didn’t when it came to farming. As time went by however, she found there was a lot more to the subject than she had ever anticipated,

“I didn’t want to get caught up too much in the business side of things at the start, I just kind of wanted to know about running a farm” she said. “As time went by, I realised there was so much more to it than I thought.

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“The lecturers were fantastic, they made everything so interesting and I learned so much so quickly.”

More than just improving her knowledge, her studies opened new doors for her, not least by improving her confidence tenfold. While she had suffered imposter syndrome on first application, it didn’t take long before things turned around,

“School was difficult for me, I was shy and had crippling anxiety” she said. “I was worried about coming in to uni, to start in a male-dominated field, I just felt quite little, like I didn’t belong.

“As time went by, and I spoke to people, and learned more I realised I deserved to be there as much as anyone else, that I did know what I was talking about. I started to believe in myself much more.”

With her growing self-belief came a desire to explore and find new opportunities. They came in quick succession, starting with a study trip abroad,

“I was part of the student exchange to the University of Arkansas last year, about 10 of us went and it was so much fun” she said. “I learned about agriculture in America and I made really good connections.”

“Then I did a placement with SAC as a consultant, which was really useful, I learned so much. I was based in Lanark and I got to see a lot of the area and get lots of hands-on practical experience.”

Some of those opportunities led to even more, with Jennifer finding herself at the prestigious ALBAS awards this year, winning not only Higher Education Learner of the Year, but a CARAS award too.

Now she has come to the end of her studies however, one question has returned for her: what next?

“I’m not sure where I’ll go next” she said.

“I want to go out and explore, I don’t want to look back years from now and wish that that I’d done more. I’ve got my whole life to come back to the farm.

“I’m a country bumpkin though, so wherever I end up, it’ll be in the countryside!”

And for those thinking about their own next steps, about where they want to go, she has some words of wisdom,

“If you want to study I say just give it a chance. I thought because I was a bit older I’d struggle bit, but it’s just been the best experience, not daunting at all. You get so many chances and opportunities to take, I wouldn’t change my time for anything.”