Mary Lewandowski is starting a new chapter in her life with a clean slate after graduating from high school - with help from a WROF, Inc. Board Scholar Award. Because she is paying for her college education on her own, Mary says that the scholarship helps her in countless ways. Not only is it alleviating the financial
stress of being a college student, but Mary also finds inspiration in it. "This award serves as a reminder of all the hard work and dedication the WROF, Inc. has contributed towards the agricultural industry, which inspires me to make a difference for the better of Wisconsin's agriculture," says Mary.
Currently earning associate degrees in each Dairy Science and in Ag-Business at Northcentral Technical College (NTC), Mary is excited to embark on a path she feels was meant for her. She is eager to learn from the ground up the opportunities that will allow her to achieve her calling in the agricultural industry. NTC is the perfect place for Mary to make these discoveries, as it has
a fully operating dairy farm, the NTC Agriculture Center of Excellence, where she is able to work closely with cattle, calves, and machinery under the attentive instruction of committed faculty members. The Agriculture Center of Excellence is the only working dairy farm and learning laboratory in the Wisconsin Technical College System.
In addition to her studies, Mary also serves as Secretary of NTC's Postsecondary Agricultural Student Organization, a student club that provides opportunities for personal growth, leadership, and career preparation. This year, she continued her membership of the National FFA Band for a second year, playing the trumpet at the National FFA Convention
this past fall. An active FFA member, Mary expanded her target audience in her FFA Agricultural Education project by sharing with 700 students so far in nine central Wisconsin elementary schools the children's book she wrote about her family's fifth-generation dairy farm in Bevent, Wisconsin. The book, A Day in the Life of a Wisconsin Dairy Farm Girl, is geared toward 1st - 4th graders to educate them on agriculture. Mary plans to continue sharing her story and playing her trumpet with
children at area hospitals and residents of nursing homes, in a game of "Name that Farm Tune."
Thanks to your support, the WROF, Inc. can assist students like Mary who are blazing
inspirational and impactful trails in rural Wisconsin. In addition to having plans to continue her family's 125-year tradition of running a dairy farm, Mary is also inspired to become a dairy advocate, spreading awareness of the accomplishments hard-working dairy farmers achieve in Wisconsin. "Rural Wisconsin is the place where I am proud to say that I was raised on my family's fifth-generation dairy farm, with my parents Bill and Sandy, and older brother, Alex, and I could not have imagined my
life any differently," says Mary.