Dr. Janet Helms knows what it’s like to be a young person with a big dream. Helms dreamed of being a veterinarian ever since she was a 7-year-old girl growing up in Long Island, New York.

Although there wasn’t any room in the suburbs to house horses, young Janet Helms longed for a horse of her own.

My day starts as it usually does three days a week, with a 6 a.m. Spanish class over Skype with my teacher, who is at an immersion school in Puebla, Mexico.

Our lessons normally consist of listening and grammatical exercises, followed by reading and comprehension of an article from El Lechero selected by my teacher.

This article was #7 of the Top 25 most well-read articles on www.progressivedairy.com in 2012. Click here to jump to the article. It was published in the April 11, 2012 issue. Click here for the full list of the Top 25.

PD Editor Emily Caldwell got a behind-the-scenes look at a robotic dairy start-up, where consultant Paul Berdell walked the Leech family of Virginia through transitioning their 240-cow herd to four Lely robots.

Johnny McConnaughhay’s receptionist’s eyes were wide open, wider than he had ever seen. She looked at him as if he had done something wrong.

The concern that filled her eyes told him that he should hurry. Two men were waiting to see him in the lobby.