A Jack of All Trades

A proper blog wouldn’t be without an introduction of course, so why don’t I start off by talking a little bit about who I am...




My names Maddie, I am a junior studying Agricultural and Extension Education, and I am from a little town called Epping in the southern part of New Hampshire. New Hampshire has been my home ever since I was born, and its truly where my heart is. A quick two hour drive up north gets me to the heart of the white mountain, where I spend a lot of time hiking and enjoying God’s creation, and just thirty minutes east of me is the beach, where (surprisingly) I spend half my time there in the summer.


Just under two hours north gets you to Raymond, Maine, where you will find my ultimate happy-place: a little cottage on Panther Pond that my grandparents own. Here my family and I spend as much time as we can relaxing, getting away from life, fishing, swimming, boating, water sporting, hammocking, and just about anything else you can think of that involves the outdoors and decompressing. Summers wouldn’t be complete without a trip to The Lake.

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Now that we’ve established where I call home, let me talk about myself a little more. If I could use one phrase to describe me it would hands down be a “jack of all trades.”

I play volleyball. I have since 7^th grade, and it is one of my favorite sports to play and some of my fondest high school memories are on the court.

I am a big horse girl. Horses are a huge part of my life and I seriously don’t know what I would do without them. I've been riding and working with horses since I was 9, and Guinness, my heart horse, has personality for days and I have been working with him specifically since 8^th grade. If I ever need to decompress, the barn is my top place to go.

I do timber sports. Inspired by my FFA woodsmen coach (my ag teachers’ husband) and the one fair we ever competed in, I avidly sought this out as soon as I got to Penn State. The Woodsmen Team competes in timber sports. Some of these events include axe throwing, log rolling and decking, pulp toss (think horseshoes but with logs instead), pole climb (typically 40ft. up), underhand chop (pictured to the right), crosscut (two-man saw), stock saw, and even some canoeing relays! Being a woman in a heavily male-dominated sport was intimidating at first, but ultimately it has increased my confidence 10-fold.

I am an avid cook. One of my favorite pasttimes is cooking and baking and I love trying out new recipes and seeing what I can make.

I do competitive ballroom dancing. Here at Penn State, ballroom is a D1 sport so by that, I am a varsity athlete! This is a new endeavor I have taken on just this year, I love it so much, and it really helps me to feel poised and fancy.

I am an Orientation Leader. I have the OL energy through and through and rocked the pink polo this past summer at Penn State, and will do it all again this next summer! It was an unreal experience and has given me invaluable skills that will help me in all my future endeavors.

All in all, I love tackling new challenges and trying new things, and I strive to push my comfort zone constantly.



My Ag Journey 

I have been working with horses ever since I was 9, like I previously stated. It wasn’t until my junior year of high school, when I was finally eligible, that I took a general ag class at the Seacoast School of Technology, our local tech school. Until this point, all I wanted was to be a vet, focused in large animals. This class, however, opened my eyes to the wonders and diversity of the ag sector and the rest was history. I became so passionate about any and everything agriculture, and with the love and support from the greatest teacher I have ever known, Anne DeMarco, I took the plunge into FFA and ag education.

Through this class, I experienced so much. I competed in every CDE offered, won 5 state titles in my two years in FFA, make a heck of a lot of mistakes, failed A LOT, stretched my comfort zone to its max, competed at Nationals, made some best friends, and ultimately fell in love with education and FFA. I finally started to become the Maddie I was suppose to.

My experiences here are ones that have shaped me and molded me to be the person I am today and without them, I don't think I would be on the adventure I am, pursuing a degree in ag education, furthering this love and passion for agriculture and education.

I owe it to a lot of people, specifically my momma, Ms. DeMarco, and my forever FFAmily, and I am beyond excited to see what's on the road ahead.

These experiences ultimately have evolved me from "I believe in the future of agriculture…" to "I am an agriculture educator by choice and not by chance..."