“I just kind of came out on a whim and got more and more interested in it,” he says. This interest grew, and by his sophomore year, he had quickly become one of its co-presidents. 

Originally from Souderton, Pennsylvania, and now living in St. Petersburg, the international relations and global affairs and French graduate works as a pickleball instructor and finds himself returning to the place where his passion for growing food began. 

“It was super different back then,” he explains. “Just a ragtag group of people interested in gardening. We did a lot of failing, but it was a great learning experience and really changed my life.” 

Though he began his studies majoring in marine science and environmental studies, hands-on work in the garden shifted his interests toward sustainable agriculture. That path led him to Burkina Faso in West Africa, where he and his wife spent more than three years working in sustainable agriculture