|
|
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 393
 
Location: Texas | Okay I could use some advice. I am currently in college, still a freshman. I am having a really hard time deciding what I want to do with my life. Actually, I take that back, I know that I want to rodeo and train horses. BUT everyone else seems to think I need to go to school along with that, lol. SO, I am trying to figure out what to go to school for, I don't want to waste my time or money going for something that I don't really want to do. I just have no idea, and I don't know how some people decide so quickly. Any advice?? I want to be able to continue to rodeo while going to school, and after I graduate, while I work. I have two really nice horses, and its what I truly love so why not go? Just looking for some advice or ideas as I am totally lost. Thank you in advance. | |
| | |
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
 
| Are you going to a school you can college rodeo at? Or is there a circuit locally you can rodeo on as an individual?
What school are you going to? It does take some folks some time to figure out what they want to do. I reccomend staying unless you truly have the horses who can go win against the big gals and the funds to facilitate getting started... It's a hard road to ride.
We had the fortune to sit for a while at BRF with the mother of one of the wpra/NFR qualifier gals who was running there. She was very sweet and we talked for a long time about what it was like to haul that road and ride the highs and lows. She said the hardest part by far was making the decision to go for it, to give up a solid paycheck and being at the top of the local/regional area and go play in the big game and the unknown. I think it's worth stating that we then watched her daughter run...and tip. Paychecks are not guaranteed for anyone in this game, and a tipped can hurts a whole lot more than a bruised shin when it means you may have to choose between gas and food.
My vote is to stay in school. I got into the ag field and there is a ton of opportunity there, feed sales, product reps, so on and so forth that would also keep you close to rodeo and barrel racing.
Then, when you're solid, when you have a savings, and you have that special horse...you can take the leap and go for broke. | |
| | |
Fire Ant Peddler
Posts: 2881
| You can always fall back on your education. First of all do something that you like to do but make sure there is a demand for it. Business is the hottest field out there even Agri business. Anything in the medical field is really hot right now. Look into nuclear medicine.
It is VERY hard to make a living training horses, even harder rodeoing.
Have a regular job that will pay for your barrel racing habit. I have for 38 years. | |
| | |
The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Did you get a college rodeo scholarship? Are you on the college rodeo team?
If not why?
This is going to sound harsh, but it takes years to build up a name where you can make a living off of riding horses, and if you are rodeoing you will not be able to take outside horses as you will be travelling all over the continent.
Sheri Cervi went to college and played basketball, Lisa Lockhart was a school teacher, and many others have had jobs that supported them to the NFR.
Shada Brazile has also said you don't make money rodeoing professionally UNLESS you have a sponsor to pay the way.
Look at people who have made the NFR and have went back to the futurity world. Kay Blanford, Tammy Fisher are the two off the top of my head.
Look at all the futurity trainers that don't try and make the NFR, Dena, Martha Wright, Jackie J. (Sorry I can't spell her name)
There is more to life then barrel racing. To barrel race you need an income, so go to college, pick something practical with good flexible hours, a good wage, and transferable from state to state.
| |
| | |
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 393
Location: Texas | Trust me, I realize that it is hard to go down the road without a good source of income. Maybe I didn't word it right. I plan on staying in school and getting a career and rodeoing and training on the side. I just don't know how you decide WHAT you want to be??? I was planning on going to vet school, but then I started second guessing myself because I realized I was only going for that because that's what my friends and family wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. So I am a little lost. How did you all decide what you wanted to do? Was it based off of something that you enjoy, money, job demand, how long you go to school, etc?? I am the type of person who wants to have a plan. I don't want to continue going to school indecisive with what I want to do. Some people just seem to be born knowing what they want there career to be. I was just looking for insight on what made others determine what they wanted to be, and for some ideas on what to go for that I could still rodeo.
Also, I chose not to college rodeo. For me, I would rather go to amateur and pro rodeos close by along with the big 4D's. All of the rodeos in our region are 8-13 hours away and just don't pay good enough to justify it. | |
| | |
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 464
| My best advice is--------If you are going to get a degree, choose a field that requires a degree.
Also it's admirable to want to train/rodeo professionally. You can do that with a college degree. The problem is they want let you teach school, nurse, or be a CPA without a degree. | |
| | |
 Thick and Wavy
Posts: 6102
Location: Nebraska | cheryl makofka - 2014-04-27 9:14 PM Did you get a college rodeo scholarship? Are you on the college rodeo team? If not why? This is going to sound harsh, but it takes years to build up a name where you can make a living off of riding horses, and if you are rodeoing you will not be able to take outside horses as you will be travelling all over the continent. Sheri Cervi went to college and played basketball, Lisa Lockhart was a school teacher, and many others have had jobs that supported them to the NFR. Shada Brazile has also said you don't make money rodeoing professionally UNLESS you have a sponsor to pay the way. Look at people who have made the NFR and have went back to the futurity world. Kay Blanford, Tammy Fisher are the two off the top of my head. Look at all the futurity trainers that don't try and make the NFR, Dena, Martha Wright, Jackie J. (Sorry I can't spell her name) There is more to life then barrel racing. To barrel race you need an income, so go to college, pick something practical with good flexible hours, a good wage, and transferable from state to state.
If you're talking about Jackie Jatzlau, she did make the NFR just under a different name :)
Anyway, OP, what do you like? Can you talk to your advisor and have him/her set up some job shadow opportunities so that you can decide if it is something you can see yourself doing?
For me, I knew I wanted to do something with medicine be it with animals or people. I job shadowed a pharmacist in town and loved it, so that's what I started my college career as.....until I got to chemistry. I absolutely hated it and didn't want to think about it for the rest of my life. In addition, I really didn't like math either. So, I looked at the list of what I could major in that wouldn't require any more chemistry or math and it was nursing. I had taken care of my dad when he was sick when I was in highschool so I had an idea what nursing was all about and figured I could do it, especially with three 12 hour shifts a week. I LOVE IT. Best decision I ever made. It has been pure hell and I haven't had as much time with my horses as I would like, but I'll graduate in August. | |
| | |
 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Definitely talk to a counselor. They can often guide you in the right direction.
I would advise majoring in some specific, like Accounting. Where you will develop skills that will be readily used once you get a job. I (almost) have some bull**** degree that is part business, part IT and it was the biggest waste of time.
Search around on Indeed.com for jobs. Take a look at what interests you and what those jobs require. Take a look at what TYPE of jobs are offered where you want to end up living. And don't worry about how much time it will take! I would stay in school as long as possible....the real world sucks! | |
| | |
| I have had dozens of college rodeo barrel racers work as exercise riders, colt breakers, muck rakers etc etc over the years ...
I hope they give me credit for helping them to decide to go into medical fields such as RN degrees and one also did a masters in HR and others chose radiology, MRI to sales reps or school nurses ... the list is endless once you get that RN degree .... and they all make over $60,000 per year.
With the above you can change states, countries, climates, sea side, top of a mountain and live where you want to ... lol
Just keep in mind ... any job major you choose will eventually turn into a job with less excitement over the years ... so look at the money side and the flexibility some offer like the medical field does ...
Most of them had jobs the minute they walked across the graduating stage at $24 to $30 per hour as RN's ...
GOOD LUCK ... go study hard and get thru college as quickly as possible by doing summers and the required hospital time etc etc ... then you can afford to get the horse, truck, trailer you desire or even buy you a husband ... lol
| |
| | |
 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Our college son took an apptitude test. He did not know what he wanted to do and his grades reflected it. Friends told us how the test helped their kids find careers. We were at the point of bring your grades up or we are done paying for school. It was his choice to take the test, we paid for it, $800 for 2 days of testing. They discussed the results with him and counseled him on careers that use his strenghts and interests. He is now majoring in Enviornmental Hygeine. $$ well spent getting the testing. He now has focus and drive. | |
| | |
 Expert
Posts: 2457
| teejaytafame - 2014-04-27 9:25 PM
Trust me, I realize that it is hard to go down the road without a good source of income. Maybe I didn't word it right. I plan on staying in school and getting a career and rodeoing and training on the side. I just don't know how you decide WHAT you want to be??? I was planning on going to vet school, but then I started second guessing myself because I realized I was only going for that because that's what my friends and family wanted me to do, not what I wanted to do. So I am a little lost. How did you all decide what you wanted to do? Was it based off of something that you enjoy, money, job demand, how long you go to school, etc?? I am the type of person who wants to have a plan. I don't want to continue going to school indecisive with what I want to do. Some people just seem to be born knowing what they want there career to be. I was just looking for insight on what made others determine what they wanted to be, and for some ideas on what to go for that I could still rodeo.
Also, I chose not to college rodeo. For me, I would rather go to amateur and pro rodeos close by along with the big 4D's. All of the rodeos in our region are 8-13 hours away and just don't pay good enough to justify it.
Take a deep breath - you are only a freshman, you got lots of time and I bet you are still taking the required freshman courses. :)
I too started out thinking I wanted to be a vet but ended up going into research and diagnostic development - I thought it was way more challenging and fun. I work in a hard money funded laboratory researching and developing vaccines and diagnostics for use in vet labs. There will always be a demand for these types, the job and training transfers around the world, you can easily transition into the private sector working for drug companies and product reps, and it requires a degree (if not multiple's depending on what you want to do). It also can be super flexible when you are not in a busy time crunch or study.
SO - here's my thought. Ask around for job shadowing or a semester long internship. Who is your favorite professor? I straight up asked mine after class one day and he hooked me up with a semester long unpaid internship that I learned TONS and it opened TONS of doors - including the offer to go to grad school with a paid stipend, great project, and paid tuition/fees.
Take your time and you'll find something that really does interest you! I don't know what University you are at ... but many of the large state run ones will have University research farms - Mine had a great horse breeding facility that bred, trained, and sold 4 yo's to the local ranchers who came back year after year. Some have nutrition researchers who collaborate, develop, and test for major companies ... that could be a foot in the door for being a feed/product rep.
Good Luck! No one said it is easy but you can do it! | |
| | |
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 393
Location: Texas | Thank you all for the input!! | |
| | |
 Expert
Posts: 2097
Location: Deep South | If you are a freshman it's good you're thinking about it, but certainly not at the point you need to panic over it. My advice is to really focus in class. Which ones do you not hate? Which ones do you kind of enjoy? Which ones interest you? If you find a specific class that you find yourself interested in and the homework doesn't make you miserable like the rest of your homework does, go see that professor. Discuss the options of pursuing something along the lines of that class. Every professor I've had has outside work experience before becoming a teacher, they'll know what you can do in that line of study.
I'm graduating with a Bachelors in Finance this Saturday. When I was a senior in HS I thought I wanted to be a chiropractor, then I saw the degree plan for that and it was slap full of science courses. Guess what I'm terrible at.... science. So then I redirected and knew I wanted to be in business but didn't know where. I researched careers and the demand in my area and talked to a lot of people and decided to major in Accounting. I was Accounting all the way up to this past semester. However, over the past year I interned for a CPA firm and hated every dreadful second of it. HATED IT. I was also doing excellent in all of my classes except the accounting courses, where I was really struggling. So I talked to my advisor who said all of my credits up to that point would switch to either Finance of General Business and I would still graduate on time. Everyone has told me that it is much easier to find a job if you specialize rather than go general, so I chose Finance.
I couldn't be happier. I really don't mind the work, and the job opportunities with this degree are endless. A lot of people think if you have a Finance degree you must work in a bank, but that's not true. Think of ANY business in the whole wide world. They all have a finance department in some form.
I made my decision based on my horse hobby. I wanted something that would allow me to find a job with good hours and weekends off, and a good enough salary to support my hobby. I like the idea of working in a business setting, because its not physically demanding which means I should be able to work without changing careers for a very long time. | |
| | |
Veteran
Posts: 144
Location: East TN | I was in your shoes too! i understand completely....its so tough trying to pick THE major you want...and colleges are usually so **** demanding your freshman year that you do pick what it is you want to do...its downright frustrating...
I went straight into a community college right after high school.....i just knew i wanted to be a veterinarian. However, after putting my all into all of my classes and studying my rear off day in an day out..... i was drained...i was done and i quickly learned that Chemistry, Bio Chemistry and Organic Chemistry were my enemies! lol it no longer appealed to me the way it once had and honestly i was burnt out. I talked with my parents, friends, and a few advisors at the school. And i realized very quickly, maybe i wasn't cut out for this, i wasn't happy at school and i was missing out on a lot of barrel races and rodeos because of the need to study. I really felt like a zombie.
I withdrew from school to just take a break really, and got a full time job to support my horse habit. I landed a job at a bigger well known law firm....long story short...after three years im still at this job..i LOVE it and am taking online courses to obtain a degree in paralegal studies :)
Not at all remotely close to what i had set out for myself when i began my college journey but i wouldn't change it for the world! i found a career i enjoy and am still able to enjoy my passion in life, chasing cans.
Best of luck to you in deciding what it is you would like to do! It may take a little bit but trust me, everything WILL fall into place :) | |
| | |
 Can You Hear Me Now?
Location: When you hit the middle of nowhere .. Keep driving | BARRELHORSE USA - 2014-04-28 2:02 AM
I have had dozens of college rodeo barrel racers work as exercise riders, colt breakers, muck rakers etc etc over the years ...
I hope they give me credit for helping them to decide to go into medical fields such as RN degrees and one also did a masters in HR and others chose radiology, MRI to sales reps or school nurses ... the list is endless once you get that RN degree .... and they all make over $60,000 per year.
With the above you can change states, countries, climates, sea side, top of a mountain and live where you want to ... lol
Just keep in mind ... any job major you choose will eventually turn into a job with less excitement over the years ... so look at the money side and the flexibility some offer like the medical field does ...
Most of them had jobs the minute they walked across the graduating stage at $24 to $30 per hour as RN's ...
GOOD LUCK ... go study hard and get thru college as quickly as possible by doing summers and the required hospital time etc etc ... then you can afford to get the horse, truck, trailer you desire or even buy you a husband ... lol
I completely agree with Barrelhorse usa here... and it's strange. I have 2 business degrees, and sometimes I wish I would have done something the health field instead. Baby boomers are getting older and there is a shortage of good doctors, nurses, healthcare aids in a lot of places. If you can stand the sight of blood (my only drawback... I can treat animal wounds but not a persons...) I would go for it. If you care and have compassion you will love it. There will always be someone needing healthcare and you could go anywhere. | |
| | |
 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | coming from a vet student in finals week- first of all its so flipping hard to get accepted into vet school, if you heart is not in it odds are your grades won't reflect it to get in. Also you have to do shadowing and really devote time to getting the credentials on your application to be considered. If you do get in, and your heart's not in it- you will find out VERY quickly. It's a lot of work, time consuming, not much horse riding the first year (although I've pulled off running barrels still).
Also a vet career isn't exactly conducive to rodeoing. I will have more income than I made as a teacher, but I will have less time off and a lot more obligations to fulfill. And a lot more debt. I am taking outside horses to train during the summer, but once I graduate in 2017 I highly doubt I will be training outside horses again. I would just like to be able to run my own after I become a vet.. I want to be equine specific as well so I know that will limit my ability to compete. small animal vets seem to be able to manage it well. More referral and emergency hospitals to take their evening call and emergencies.
My sister is a BSN CnOR (bachelors degree in nursing with some certification in OR nursing). She makes good money- been out of school for a couple years and is making close to 70,000. Since she's in OR she has pretty regular hours, and is not on call very often. She competes in dog agility hard core and is able to do that and have her job.
Teaching- pays decent but not that great. it allows you time off in the summer and weekends but if you ever want to pro rodeo you will find most slacks are weekday AM, and you most likely will be getting slack, so you will have to miss a lot of work. Not to mention, hard to rodeo on your own on a teacher's salary. | |
| | |
 There Could Be Aliens Out There
Posts: 1393
Location: North Central Kansas | Search around and see what pay and hours are like for various jobs you are interested in. I will graduate with my bachelor's in accounting in December and then will start a 2 semester long masters program in accounting which will get me ready to sit for my cpa. With being a cpa you can work for a big firm or work for yourself. If you go into tax the most of your work will be around the busy tax season and then it will slow down. The pay is definitely a plus. A friend of mine is graduating with her masters in accounting in 2 weeks. Already has a job lined up to be making 60k and will be making over 100k in a few years! | |
| | |
 Expert
Posts: 1304
| You're not alone! I'm going into my junior year and still am second guessing what I'd like to do. Just trying to follow my heart and trying to make a decision that is a happy medium between what I like and am interested in and what offers a decent pay and stable job in the area I'd like to be in. Good luck! | |
| | |
 Roan On The Range
Posts: 7889
Location: Stephenville, TX | Colleges usually offer career exploration classes to help you decide what path to take and you might even earn some credits for the class. Also, talk with a counselor. They are there to help you make decisions like this. Keep an open mind and find out as much as you can about any field that interests you.
Edited because this college graduate can't spell 
Edited by Running Roan 2014-04-28 1:26 PM
| |
| | |
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 602
| Pick something that is geared towards your goals. I have a BS in Animal Science and Masters in Management. I work for a pharma company. Management is a hot degree and its accepted in any field that you want to work in. | |
| |
| |
Folks on-line