“I wanted to study at Warmonderhof because I wanted to know where my food came from, what a cow has to go through so that she can produce milk. Actually, I wanted to go to Warmonderhof to get closer to the source; to learn about something especially important in life. My ambition wasn’t necessarily to become a farmer.”

“Farming, teaches me how life works”

Nadia Tofani (24) is a third-year student at Warmonderhof at the time of this interview. She is doing the vocational course in biodynamic cultivation.

“The most important thing I have learned here at Warmonderhof is that it is not just an agricultural education, but really a life school. I’ve gained a huge amount of self-knowledge here, and a lot of self-confidence. What we learn here is what you experience in other areas of your life. For me, agriculture is a means of learning the basics of how life works. That’s how I see it. I graduate in three weeks time. An essence of Warmonderhof will remain with me throughout my life.

As things stand now, I already have a job

As things stand now, I have already found a job – at a farm that combines animal husbandry, a kitchen, a shop and vegetable cultivation. This company has just started a new activity, which I will be working on. I will do the catering, including the cooking, while telling stories about food and the cultivation process, and at the same time, the guests will taste it all. People are looking for experiences. When customers come to shop, they always do a tour of the garden and the pigs.

My self-confidence has increased enormously here

Here at Warmonderhof I learned to speak in front of groups, and I learned how to give presentations. My self-assurance and self-confidence have increased enormously here. At Warmonderhof you learn everything: from technology to cooking and from cultivation to milking. It’s here that I discovered that I really enjoy cooking. Having an agricultural background, that becomes even more fun, because you understand where your food comes from and how it is produced. In the kitchen I like to improvise with what’s available. Recently I made a jackfruit stew with peppers in tacos. It was delicious!

I learned the art of perseverance here

One of the most important things I learned from Warmonderhof was perseverance. That plays a huge role here! You can’t skip milking for a day, or wait to harvest when you know it’s going to rain. Because then there would be nothing left to harvest, and it’s your income that’s lying there on the land.

One comes from the city, the other from the farm

Living at Warmonderhof is a very intense experience. Once I got used to it, I loved it. One student comes from the city, another from a village or from a farmer’s family. There’s a lot of diversity among the people here. You really learn to accept everyone as they are, and your fellow students gradually become almost like family. If there’s a course I would recommend to people, or if I had to choose a course again myself, it would be this one. I would do it again in a heartbeat!”

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