Showing Cattle by Kara

Showing Cattle by Kara - September 2015 Scholarship Essay

There has been many situations outside of school that have taught me to be a better student. The situation that I believe has had the most impact on me is showing cattle. Showing cattle is a exerting job that some people call crazy. A lot of people don’t realize that showing cattle teaches people life lessons to help better one’s future. Through showing cattle I learned about effort, commitment, and that its okay to ask for help.
Showing cattle taught me that effort is needed to become successful. When I first started showing cattle I didn’t win a lot. I also didn’t work much with my calves until school had ended that year. I started to take my claves to more shows and work with them before the school year ended, and I started to win. I learned that to be successful you need to be willing to put in more effort than the person next to you. To be successful in school I had to put in the extra hours after practice and games to make sure that my grades didn’t drop. I would study for the test and make sure that I understood the content of the chapter before an exam approached. The effort you put into your work determines the outcome. Thanks to showing cattle I learned how important effort is.
Commitment is another aspect I have learned through showing cattle. To be a successful cattle shower and breeder, you have to be committed. You have to spend those days that are twenty below washing your calf (this is in a heated room so that it doesn’t freeze and the animals don’t get sick). You have to be willing to go out every hour in a snow storm to check on the cow that is calving. Commitment determines the outcome before you can. If you don’t give all your effort to something you won’t succeed in it. This is the same in school. If you aren’t committed to a class than you aren’t going to pass with a high grade if you pass at all. You may not think that a class will benefit you, but that class is required so why not get a good grade in it? You need to be committed to everything you do, even if you don’t want to do it.
One of the biggest life lessons showing cattle has taught me is that it’s okay to ask for help. Some people are afraid to ask others for help because they don’t want to seem incapable of completing a task. I have learned to ask for help with my calves, especially from my parents. On nights I know I’m going to be gone late with a sports or school event I ask my parents if they can feed my calves for me. I have asked a family friend for help clipping and grooming my calf. Asking doesn’t make you seem incapable, but it shows that you care. When someone else sees that you care about what you are doing or learning they are happy to help because they want you to understand something. Teachers love when you ask for help on a topic because it means that you care about learning in their class. It’s okay to ask for help on assignments as long as you try to do them on your own first.
Showing cattle has taught me many important life lessons. I learned that to be successful you have to put in the extra effort. To give yourself a chance you have to be committed. It’s okay to ask for help because it makes people realizes you care about what you are doing. These are just a few of the lesson I have learned through showing cattle, and I can say that all of them have helped me become a better student.