|
|
Member
Posts: 28
| I'm a rising senior in high school and I need to start thinking as well as preparing for my future. I have looked at a lot of school, and my mom would like me to go to big named schools. the problem with this is that most are not located near horse facilities or anything barrel racing. I realize how important this is to my future. I love horses more than anything but I don't know if I want a career in horses because it is not a steady income. I have always told everyone that I would love to be a professional barrel racer or horse breeder but I just want to have a steady income and not struggle financially when I am older. I would love to work for a horse ranch during college(this is where the problem is). I just need help figuring out what is best. I am a straight a student and will be valedictorian of my class(if this helps what so ever). I don't know I this makes sense but I would really like some feed back. |
|
| |
|
  Ms. Manners
Posts: 1820
  
Location: Oklahoma | Feedback on what, specifically? I love Oklahoma State University . . . they have a rodeo team as well as equestrian team and have quite a few degree options in agriculture and animal science. The Lazy E is a large breeding, training and competition facility about 30 to 4 minutes south of OSU, and they have several different internship opportunities depending on your interests. The barrel race culture here is very active as well.
|
|
| |
|
 Dog Resuce Agent
Posts: 3459
Location: southeast Texas | What are you planing on going to school for, and is your mom paying for your schooling?
think about it this way,,,,, you earn a excellent living and the horse part will all fall together. When you are poor, struggling to repay college loans, the horse part will be a lot harder. Even riding for some one else, you are helping to fulfill their dreams, not yours. |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| Where are you located? Where does your mom want you to look? Are you looking to rodeo or run jackpots? What type of career path are you considering?
I applaud you for looking for a steady income - it makes having a serious horse hobby more enjoyable to have a steady paycheck. Give us a little more info and I'm sure we'll have some words of advice. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 28
| sorry, what I am really asking is should I put horses on the back burner until I am done with college, so I can go to a big name university such a Princeton or somewhere like that. I love horses and barrel racing more than anything but I must be realistic about my future.(at least that is what people keep telling me) I am just worried that I am going to go into a field that I don't love. |
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 28
| I am from northern California. I would like to go into something like architecture or engineering. depending on the school I go to I may have a minor in animal science(I just love animals too much not to). my mom has her heart set on me going to Stanford. |
|
| |
|
Veteran
Posts: 264
| I graduated from college a few years ago with my eyes set on the same exact goal, get a degree in Vet Med and minor in animal science and barrel race as much as possible. I brought 1 of my horses with me, found a small barn about 15 minutes from the university and left 2 at home in pasture. I know you probably won't agree with me now, but your whole life, priorities, everything is going to change in college. I stopped 2 years into my schooling with my focus on animals and changed to people. School was so demanding that I ended up riding only 1 or 2 times a week and with that schedule I didn't think it would be fair to race him as often as I'd like.
Barns are everywhere! So I wouldn't worry about finding boarding or being able to have a part time job at one. I guess my main point would be to focus on your education. You sound like a very smart woman and know the importance of schooling. Horses will always be around! |
|
| |
|
Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| First of all, go to a school that YOU want to go to. My dad made me go to Texas Tech. I hated it and my grades suffered. It was so far from home and there were a lot of other reasons I did not like it. Stanford is definitely a good school but go where you want so that you can enjoy your college experience. Do a little research and find the best school for architecture and the second best then decide where you want to go. Horses will be around for ever and if you get a degree in something you really like to do, you can buy a top notch horse and go from there. If you are not too far from home you can go home on weekends and compete. A school does not have to have a rodeo team for you to college rodeo.
By the way, I came home and went to a college near home and graduated. I was the only one of us three kids that did graduate. That was the school that I wanted to go to to begin with. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1357
Location: Mississippi | Choose a major that will offer security and a good income. Like someone said earlier, the horses will fall into place if you have this. Choose your school based on their reputation for your preferred major. I teach high school, and I usually advise my kids to get the basics out of the way at a local junior college if they are undecided about a major. This saves money and gives them a bit of time to research careers. A good friend's mother told her basically the same when she went to college - get a degree that will provide a job that pays the bucks - the horses will be here when you finish. That friend is now a pharmacist, working and rodeoing on some nice horses. Good luck and congrats on valedictorian! |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | It sounds like you are doing well in school. That's good. I was in the same boat as you my senior year, even in terms of grades and all. I loved horses and wanted to be around them in college, but I didn't want my career to be horse focused. I got accepted into some of those top schools but decided to stay closer to home and have my horses. I went to West Texas A&M University. They were great for me to get a BA. I could also afford to keep my horses and they had a horse barn I worked at in the summer. I took horsemanship lessons too as electives so I always managed to ride some. They had an equestrian team and a rodeo team. I really loved it and was glad I did. My horse passed away when I was working on my Master's at Baylor. I managed to stay involved by going to a horse rescue. I have a solid career now, though I'm not raking in the big bucks, with room for upward growth. Usually a degree from one of the top schools helps you if you want to work for really big companies but a basic degree, if you make good grades, do internships, etc., is still fine to get a job. I would think, no matter which way you go, you will have less time with horses because your studies should come first. I managed to ride but not rodeo through college. I didn't have the money or time. And I had been to state finals in high school. I always put my studies first in terms of time. There are still ways to get involved though. Ultimately it will be up to you.
|
|
| |
|
 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | I know some very successful architects who went to the Univ of Arkansas. A degree from a big name might give you an advantage out of the gate, but in the long run, it's about professional accomplishments. Pick a school where you think you would be happy and feel comfortable. This isn't your mother's experience, it's yours. I chose a school partly based on being able to keep riding while I got my education. It was a good choice for me and I have no regrets. Plus, I got good enough scholarships there to pay for everything, so I didn't have to sponge off my parents, or go into debt. IMO, that should definitely factor in when choosing a school. |
|
| |
|
 Playing the Waiting Game
Posts: 2304
| Totally agree with go to a school YOU choose... My ex insisted my son go to OSU and he did for one semester. The school was just too big and expensive for him. He now is about to graduate from ECU. It is a much smaller school and so far he has NO school LOANs. His opinion is that he's not going indebt to get an education.
Thankfully he qualified for OLAP.... it's a program for Oklahoma students that pays for tuition. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | I just graduated with a Bachelor's in Finance in May, and my little sister is three years into her Civil Engineering degree. So everything you're going through is pretty fresh on my mind.
The BEST way to enjoy horses is by not depending on them for a living, so I think it's smart that you have a career with a great steady income in mind.
Going to a super prestigious school is awesome, IF that's what YOU want. I graduated with a 4.29 GPA on the Honors Diploma, #3 in my class, but I was worried about getting lost in a big school. Not being able to connect with the professors, I didn't want to go to school with 50,000 people, 300 people in a large lecture hall for every class.
PLUS, what you want can change! I went to Sam Houston my Freshman yr, determined to college rodeo. After the first year, I realized college rodeo wasn't really important to me. I wanted to move home to cut down on living expenses and commute to the university 30 minutes away. Living expenses for me and my horses were $1000/month.
Stressing over money in college can suck the pleasure of the experience right out of it!! Go to the nicest school you can reasonably afford! Don't make yourself of your parents work 3 jobs to pay for it. You will regret it in the end, knowing you could have gone to one that cost way less and still have the same qualifications in the end.
With as well as you did in h/s you will breeze right through most of the general requirement classes, while you're taking all of those you'll probably still enjoy riding and/or having a part time job. Because you won't have to spend so much time and energy on school work. But once you get into the degree specific courses things really change. So just be cautious about how much you put on your plate and know that's it ok to not be able to do it all.
I know I've wrote a lot, but my last bit of advice... I was working for a pro cutting horse trainer during college and left to go to a CPA firm as an intern, because "it would look better on my resume" when I graduated. I LOVED working at the barn, every back breaking sweat dripping minute, and was absolutely miserable at the CPA firm. I regret not working at the barn all 4 years I was in school. College is the time to have those little pay nothing jobs that you enjoy. And really the CPA firm didn't get me far anyway. All I did was make copies and file, full time employers weren't impressed when I got into the real job market. Good luck! Whatever you choose!
|
|
| |
|
 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | I went to college, worked 35 hours a week and college rodeo'd. It all depends on your finances. I had to work. There was no way around it. If I didn't have to work, I would have double majored.
Like someone else said, your first 2 years will be easy. So if you wanted to try and college rodeo, I would do it then. I loved college rodeo. It was 10x better than HS rodeo. You can rodeo independently if your school doesn't have a team. |
|
| |
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1037
| How big is the school you are graduating from? How many in your class?
I was also valedictorian of a small school (class of 106), straight A's, all that. I got accepted to all the big name schools like you are thinking of, and ended up going to school where I wanted (Texas Tech). Let me tell you first hand.... college is way more in depth than high school. I didnt have any trouble in HS but really had to work to keep up the grades at a university.
I didnt take my horses with me at first, but by October of the 1st semester I went home and got them. Kept up with school work, grades, and rodeo the first few semesters but as the classes got harder the horses took more of a backseat. Just couldnt leave on a Thursday and get back on Sunday night and expect to keep up with those good grades.
Horses were still a part of my life throughout college, but changed some. I still went to the events that were close on the weekends, and rode everyday.
There are alot of people who can pull off 4 full years of college rodeo and classes, but from what I have seen they were not in the more "difficult" majors.
Believe me I am so glad that I went ahead and got the good degree and let the horses fall to the back burner for a while. Now I can fully support by horse habits, with the good job I have.
It's not the end of the world to not be able rodeo (barrel race) full time and attend school also. Just my 2 cents.
Edited by kboltwkreations 2014-06-09 3:40 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Certified Snake Wrangler
Posts: 1672
Location: North MS | I'm with another poster. I was salutatorian at a small school. I started taking classes in the evening of my senior year at my local community college. I continued on there for the next 2 years and went to senior college. Cheaper. Less loans. Still a great education. I advise getting the most cost efficient college available. The degree is all that matters in the long run and not the paper it is printed from. |
|
| |
|
Pig-Bear Dog Lover
| Go to a school you agree on, I would not think about the horse facilities ect... get settled and do your first semester then I'm sure you can put an add in a newspaper or find somewhere local/private residence to keep a horse if you wanted to for stress relief or whatever. It's a long life you have the rest of it to worry about horses. |
|
| |
Folks on-line