Meet-a-Student: Brayan Comerford Smith
- Laura Wayte
- Jun 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 25
Age: 20
From: Manizales, Colombia and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Favorite Animal: Horses
There are always people in our education program who come from various countries around the world. But our newest student, Brayan, is himself from "around the world." Before arriving here, the Colombian native came to us from Thailand via Vietnam and Ireland!
Brian and his twin brother were adopted before high school. Their adoptive family moved them to Vietnam where the parents taught in an international school. The boys graduated from high school there as well.
"I can speak a little bit of Vietnamese. I can get me out of trouble if I need to," he said with a smile.
Brayan's moms taught Spanish and Physical Education at the International High School in Chennai, Vietnam. We got to meet his mom, Janicé Smith, when she stopped by the farm. She is moving back to the U.S. and came to check out where Brayan has landed.
His other mother, Laura Comerford, is from Ireland, so Brayan grew up going to Ireland for summer vacation and working on his aunt's large dairy farm. They had 300 dairy cows. This past year he took a job at a nearby, smaller dairy farm with 100 cows.
Looking at our small dairy where we milk 12 to 18 cows per week, I asked whether our operation seems small to him.
"See it's hard to tell because you guys do a lot of different things. But in terms of dairy, yes it was much bigger," he said.
Brayan's career goal is to become a vet or vet tech, so he is spending a year at Deck Family Farm to broaden his experience of caring for animals.
"I'm looking forward to working with the horses. I'll have to ask Christine. I used to ride in Colombia and I really like horses but I haven't worked with them yet," he said. "So far I'm just doing the chickens, which is fine. I love the animals and I'm around them so it's relaxing."
How are you with the communal living arrangement?
"I don't mind! That's what we did in Thailand, really, where everybody's in the community; everybody cooks; everybody cleans; we share the toilets. I don't see a problem. It seems normal.
"And I have a bed, so that's great. In Thailand I had a hammock. For that year in Thailand I was sleeping in a hammock!"
He says he is a little anxious about having to participate in cooking meals, though.
"I like cooking for myself, but not for everybody. It makes me nervous! I have made the salad so far, because I am the assistant for now for meal shifts. If it comes to it, I'll give it a go!"
