Before the sun is even up, dairy farmer Jimena Elizalde wakes up to take a shift on her family farm. Elizalde’s family milks around 80 cows; they own more than 100.

She earns 20 dollars a shift. Each shift is one hour long and she milks her cows with the 14 machines that are located in the parlor. 

Out of her large family of 7, only Elizalde and her brother took after their father by showing cows at the fair. Her father started showing cows at the age of nine and his passion for it has only grown. Elizalde wishes to follow in her father’s footsteps and hopes to be as successful. Along with showing cows, Elizalde and her brother work hard on training pigs to be shown in the fair.

Aside from her farm animals, Elizalde’s family owns both cats and a dog. Her dog’s name is Zeus. Zeus is currently 4 years old and Elizalde’s family brought him home over 3 years ago. Her cats are just barn cats and are not named. There are currently around five cats that live in the barn.

Elizalde was born in Washington State on July 23, 2010. She moved to Wisconsin for the farm when she was 12. She enrolled in the Amherst School District soon after, completing her 5th grade year. Currently she is a freshman who is involved in many school activities.

Elizalde puts her “all” into everything she does and loves her school activities. Currently she is in soccer. She plays varsity as a freshman and finds herself starting once in a while. During the winter she competes in wrestling. Next season she is going to join volleyball which she is very excited for.  She is also in FFA. She looks forward to all the field trips, she say, and during fair time, “FFA is really fun because you get to work in the corn stand.” 

Aside from the farm and extra curricular activities, Elizalde enjoys watching movies, going outside, baking, and hanging out with her friends. She likes to travel but becomes car sick easily so prefers to travel by plane.