“I feel like life can give you responsibilities in so many unexpected ways.

Ever since Thanksgiving break, I’ve been going twice a day to a barn 20 minutes away from my house to take care of my goat, Coco. My sister has always wanted to raise farm animals, but she never gets the chance because she is very busy. So, I decided to try it myself. Last year, I raised rabbits, but I wanted to try and do something bigger, so I decided on taking care of a goat.

There are definitely many more challenges to raising a goat. [Coco] always tries to eat whatever is in his reach and it can get pretty frustrating sometimes. You can just walk in the pen and he’ll be chewing on clothes and everything.

I’ve learned more time management and responsibility from taking care of my goat this year. I had to make many adjustments to my schedule because I [have to] manage to go in the morning and in the afternoon. That means I have to wake up earlier to go to the barn every day and go to school right after.

There are many responsibilities in taking care of a goat. You have to feed them an exact amount of food, clean out the water buckets every day and take them on walks to make sure they get exercise. It involves a lot of hard work and dedication, but in the end, it’s definitely worth it.”