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Former Farm Sanctuary Interns Share Their Stories

From Cubicle to Barn
by Nora Kramer
Farm Sanctuary News, Fall 2001

My experience interning at Farm Sanctuary was nothing like what I expected; growing up in New York City, I honestly had no idea what to expect. Looking back, I don't think I really wanted to know what I'd be doing. I had been working at a corporate (investment banking) job for two years, and I was burnt out. I'd been looking into nonprofit jobs, but I couldn't find anything just right, so I continued to languish away in my cubicle, desperate for a change that would allow me to accomplish something meaningful. Donating money didn't feel like enough; I wanted to spend my days working towards something I believed in and could feel good about at the end of the day.

About a year ago, I visited Farm Sanctuary for its annual Hoe Down event. Thinking back on it now, more than the interesting speakers--in fact, even more than interacting with the animals--what I remember most is the intern who gave us the tour of the farm. I don't remember her per se, but I remember considering the prospect of taking time out of one's life to volunteer on a farm for rescued animals. It struck me as a great program that I'd never find--or make--time to experience.

Somehow, sitting in my cubicle one day, staring off into the void of my computer, I remembered the internship program. I knew instantly that I wanted to quit my job and go off to the farm. I went to farmsanctuary.org (when I should have been editing investment reports), got some basic information, and ordered the application. After I found out I'd been accepted, I began excitedly telling people about my plan. It was only then, when people started asking me about the specifics of what I'd be doing, that I realized I didn't know. In fact, though, I didn't care. I was leaving my yuppie existence to help farm animals--that was about all I knew, really, and all I needed to know. I trusted that whatever Farm Sanctuary would have me do would be what the animals needed most, which is the obvious goal. When the time came for me to head up to the farm, I had surprisingly few reservations about it. I knew that I'd be doing something that I could be proud of--although what that would consist of I had no idea.

Well, to be honest, my first few days of working on the farm did not do much for my open-minded, "there's no 'I'in 'team'" mentality. The other interns and I spent our first two days mucking barns in the snowy, cold days of early April. (Yes, it snowed in April--not part of my idyllic vision of spring on the farm!) The third day, we helped Susie, the shelter manager, with chicken health checks. Each month, each animal on the farm is checked to make sure he or she is healthy. Well, we spent nine hours checking chicken vents and toes for infection, giving them shots, and just generally chasing them around the barn. The work was physically taxing, especially compared to my standard days of being lulled into oblivion by the investment banking blabber I'd spent two years reading. The work was as unglamorous as you could get: we raked and pitched dirty straw, scrubbed and scraped poop-covered perches and floors, carried heavy bales of straw from one barn to another, learned what a healthy--and unhealthy--chicken butt looks like. It was certainly the farm's "dirty work" that they'd given us interns, which was initially quite a shock to my college-educated brain and my nicely manicured nails.

Quickly, though--hastened surely by the melting snow and rising temperatures--I got over any preconceived snobbish ideas I had about the work I was doing. Who should be cleaning the barns if not interns? And what made me too good to clean barns? Because I had studied Shakespeare? If I want the animals to be able to be rescued and live happy lives at Farm Sanctuary, I should have no problem putting my muscle where my mouth and my money were and start shoveling. And I did, and it felt great.

My days were spent with the animals, who I grew to appreciate more and more each day. The weather quickly turned beautiful, and it was a pleasure to be working outdoors every day rather than to waste them away in a cubicle. I got to know many of the animals individually, to learn about different tendencies and likes and dislikes of different species, and to feel that I was directly contributing to an increased quality of life for the animals whose barns I cleaned. I soon noticed that the aches, pains, and strains I'd felt after my first week went away quickly. Although my first instinct had been to say "This work is too physically difficult for me. Give me some envelopes to stuff!" in reality my body just needed a little bit of time to adjust. By the end of my internship, I found the work much less physically challenging, and I even found some new muscles!

My time at Farm Sanctuary was amazing. I've never worked harder and I've never felt better. I met a great group of interns and staff from whom I learned about the incredible diversity within the animal rights community and who inspired me to continue to do all I can to fight for the rights of animals--particularly farm animals, whose rights are most blatantly disregarded and yet are also readily ignored by both the average person on the street and, most shockingly, by "animal lovers" and "animal advocates." I realized that it is typically the least glamorous work that is the most desperately needed, and that nobody should feel too proud to do it.

Farm Sanctuary truly is a sanctuary for farm animals. They get wonderful care and lots of love. However, it is also a sanctuary for vegans, who can be free of cruelty and surrounded by like-minded, compassionate people in a way that is possible hardly anywhere else in the world.

Anyone who cares about animals and is willing to work for them will have an experience of a lifetime interning at Farm Sanctuary.