Rodeo Dreams by Jessica

Rodeo Dreams by Jessica - December 2013 Scholarship Essay

Growing up in an urban Ohio city was the only way of living that I knew. The high school in Ohio was large and people kept to themselves to avoid a fight. High school was scary as a young girl. Extracurricular activities were only for the popular kids. That all changed on one cold Winter day when my mom came to me and said, "Baby girl, we're moving to Arizona."

Some people would be excited to move, but Ohio was all I knew. Parker, Arizona was a whole new world. The high school was a much smaller campus and the lockers were outside. People waved at you and talked to you and fights only happened on rare occasions. As I became familiar with the high school, I was invited to try out for a different type of extracurricular activity; Rodeo Queen. Horses have always been my passion but the rodeo world was fairly new. Normally I would have backed out in an instant in fear of being rejected, but this time was different. This time I accepted the challenge considering the fact that I just move two thousand miles and it did not seem so bad after all.

The competition was fierce and I had never been involved in anything like this before. Instead of backing down, I worked hard on every part of the competition. To me, it was a new world and I was not going to back down. I was crowned Parker Rodeo Queen and it changed my life.

I finally learned that I could be involved in the community. I felt like I made my mother proud and that meant the world to me. Most of all, I realized that I have a voice and I can be somebody. These realizations are what I call my rodeo dreams. My rodeo dreams were the beginning of a hard-working woman pursuing her Master's degree and not backing down. I have remained involved in the horse world and community as well as continued my education to provide a beautiful life for my daughter. The truly satisfying day will be when I am there to experience my baby girl's own rodeo dreams; whether in rodeo or not.