Notes From a Cowgirl

Right now I feel like an eight year old on a road trip, repeatedly asking, “Are we there yet?” I’m exhausted. I want to reach the destination. It feels like I’ve been on this journey forever. Is there any trail mix left? Oh, wait, I already ate the chocolate out of it. That’s how I feel about this semester. All the fun is gone, and it’s driving me nuts. The past two semesters have drained me. I’m loving life more than ever, but I’m tired. I want the single piece of paper that represents hours upon hours working on countless papers, projects, and assignments. But since I didn’t work as hard as I should have my first few years of college, I still have three semesters after this one. Giving up this close to the end of the semester is easy (I think we’ve all done it). We worked hard, we deserve a break, and we want it now, right? Wrong. Paul wrote encouraging letters from prison. The least I can do is write a feature article on women agricultural producers in the top three ...

There is no way I could ask for a better mom. Here are a few reasons, in no particular order, why she’s so great. 1) She cares immensely for any student who needs her help and doesn’t stop trying until the student is helped. 2) She’s the kind of person who talks to young people like they’re valuable human beings, not like they’re “just kids.” 3) She will say something is “not good” instead of outright labeling something as bad. (I think that’s her way of giving something or someone the benefit of the doubt.) 4) She has a million and one things to do every day but makes time to help me take care of our animals. 5) Including the animals, she has a million and two things to do every day and usually makes a homemade dinner or leaves instructions about exactly what to do. 6) She encourages her children in our passions and strengths. (For years she told me I should major in something to do with writing. After opening my eyes, I see that she was right all along.) ...

My spring semester recently started and I’m pretty excited about it. So far I really like my classes and I’m extra, extra excited for Intro to News Writing. You may or may not already know that I’m transferring to another college this fall (2015) in order to major in Agricultural Communication . Everyone is directly affected by agriculture; all people eat and most wear clothes. The agriculture industry as a whole needs more effective communicators. I don’t know where my degree will take me, but this Intro to News Writing class is bound to pay off. And it’s fun, too! Last week the professor gave everyone in the class one of these awesome notebooks. For an aspiring communicator, this little notebook is a huge deal! Like my classmate said, it's like our own handy dandy notebook.  (Did you get that reference ?) So far, I’ve been amazed at the detailed information we’ve been learning. News writing isn’t just writing things down and publishing them; the...