I’m Allie Kuppenbender (she/her) and I’m a senior at The Evergreen State College. I’m originally from Minnesota. I transferred to Evergreen September 2017. Before that I have a mix of various academic and job experience. I went to a small private liberal arts college right after high school and it ended up not being the right fit for me. After which, I took a couple years off. During those years, I worked as a barista, took classes at a very large public university, and did a yearlong AmeriCorps commitment. With AmeriCorps, I worked full-time at a non-profit in North Minneapolis with people reentering society after any period of time in prison.

When I came to Evergreen, I knew I wanted to take the Practices of Organic Farming (POF) program. That wasn’t possible immediately so I started out studying American history, political economy, and studio art. But for me, those programs always intersected with food justice, which ended up being the catalyst for jumping head first into sustainable agriculture by taking POF. I’ve also done two internships, one at a flower farm in Mount Vernon, WA and one at a flower farm in East Olympia. My goal is to eventually have my own farm back in Minnesota. The organic farming community at Evergreen and the Pacific Northwest as a whole are so welcoming and the networks POF opens up are astounding. So many farmers in this area have either taken some iteration of the program or view it in the highest regards. I’m really glad I came to Evergreen because of how the interdisciplinary programs allow for really deep, concentrated areas of study and because of the doors the POF program has opened for me in terms of jobs, contacts, and friends. I really wouldn’t be where I am today without Evergreen and the Organic Farm on campus.