A Neverending Journey

As I've gotten older I've realized that everything that happens in life is a journey. From extracurriculars, to school and, of course, rodeo. A lot of times we get to a high point in whatever we may be doing and then get into a slump that we can't seem to get out of. It is how you handle yourself through the ups and downs of your journey that can make or break you.

As a 14 year old I wanted to face my slump I was in, head on, because I was done with feeling the way I did. I would try to work harder only for things to get worse, and it seemed like every direction I went everything was going wrong. As we came into the end of summer I was given an opportunity to get better and learn more. This opportunity I was given was probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make. If you are wondering, this opportunity was to move myself to Texas. Now that keyword, myself, is what could have made me or could have broke me. But, knowing that getting better was something I wanted to do, I did it. As I made the move it became really surreal and I had that moment where the" is this really happening, am I actually doing this" occurred.

Just getting myself there was half the battle, and when I got there a new journey began. I started training, and riding a lot of different, really cool horses and learned so much! There were definitely days where I felt I couldn't do it and felt like a failure, and there were days I felt really good about what I was doing. Those days I felt good about what I was doing was because I told myself WHY I was doing it. When I did that I stopped thinking about how sore I was and how tired I was and really applied myself. If you haven't caught on already, I wasn't there for just a couple weeks I was there for 4 months. The hardest 4 months of my life. I juggled working and riding with school and I was sleep deprived and sore but I did it. I made a lot of sacrifices so I could get better, I left my friends and lost most of them, I left my family, I pretty much left everything I knew and It made me uncomfortable. I pushed myself through the hard times and a little bit of homesickness for 4 months and had the time of my life.

Realizing when it was time to leave was probably another one of the hardest decisions to make, I got to a point where I was too homesick to sleep and do anything and my anxiety was at its highest. I felt like leaving was going to disappoint everyone and it was going to disappoint me. But, I saw what I was going through as signs that it was my time to apply what I learned at home and progress on my own. Now that my season has kicked off again I have been doing better than ever before and have not only made myself proud of all my hard work, but also the people that supported me along the way. I met so many cool people and thanks to Marty And Heidi Becker I had such a great opportunity and experience! The point of my story is that, if you want to get somewhere in anything, it doesn't have to be rodeo, then make sacrifices, make yourself uncomfortable, and push yourself to limits that you didn't think you could reach. And, don't ever think you've learned everything there is to know, keep applying yourself to different situations and learning from all kinds of different people.

June 3, 2017