It was March 17, 1996 — I still remember the date when I arrived in Minnesota to begin my American adventure. I was in my final year of horticulture studies at the Warsaw University of Agriculture. With poor English but solid horticultural experience (I come from a fruit farm), I began working at Shady Acres Herb Farm in Chaska. After several weeks, I moved to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to work on a new Wildflower Garden project, while continuing to do part-time work after hours for Shady Acres. At the Arboretum, I lived with three other MAST students — one from the Czech Republic, one from Hungary, and one from Brazil — at the Lake Cabin House, which belonged to the Arboretum in Chanhassen. It was a great place to live, party, and socialize.
For the winter quarter, we moved to the campus in Saint Paul to take classes at the University of Minnesota. After that, some of us decided to stay in the city and work for Linder’s Greenhouses. Building new greenhouses in winter, with temperatures around -20°C (-5 F), was challenging. But there were fun parts too — like delivering poinsettias by heated truck before Christmas to various places, including downtown Minneapolis. At least it wasn’t as cold then!
The MAST program wasn’t only about work and study. In the summer of 1996, I went on a road trip with two other Polish MAST students to the East Coast. We drove in an old Oldsmobile that one student had bought for $200. From there, we headed north to Quebec, Canada, and then west to see Niagara Falls. It was a long journey, but we visited many major East Coast cities and sights. Driving through Canada, we circled around the Great Lakes to return to Duluth. The following year, I took another road trip — this time with a Hungarian friend — to the West Coast. We visited national parks in Utah, Nevada, and California, and ended our trip in Washington State, where I found work at Peters Orchard in Wapato, near Yakima.
I had the opportunity to work in a variety of horticultural settings: from an herb farm and an arboretum, to greenhouses and finally to an apple orchard — which was my original area of interest. I met many good people who helped me a lot, especially during the first weeks. Living and working at the Arboretum was also a great opportunity to connect with other students and the friendly U.S. staff. And last but not least, my time at Peters Orchard in Washington was very beneficial for my future career as an apple grower. In Wapato, I was also lucky to meet the friendly Peters family, who ran a modern apple and pear orchard. After completing the 18-month MAST program, I spent another two months traveling around the U.S. on a tourist visa.
When I returned to Poland and shared my MAST experience with my uncle, a university professor, he mentioned two English phrases: “cultural openness” and “international exposure.” At the time, I thought it was just academic talk, but over the years, I’ve realized he was absolutely right. However, the MAST program above all provides a truly invaluable opportunity to work on a farm — something that is more important today than ever before. In an age of remote work, automation, robotics, and social media, physical labor on a farm gives young people a rare chance to appreciate and understand the vital importance of food production and agriculture. Besides, nothing strengthens the body and mind quite like physical work. As the well-known British journalist and celebrity Jeremy Clarkson once wrote in one of his columns: “A bad day on the farm is still better than a good day in the office.”
