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S3 E17 - Blue Ribbon Educational Experience at the Dane County Fair · Inside the OSD

• 0:03
  SPEAKER1: [COUNTY FAIR SFX]
• 0:06
  SPEAKER2: Our Oregon High School Agriculture Program and FFA club offers amazing hands on learning and leadership opportunities for our students.
• 0:16
  In this episode, we are live on site at the Dane County Fair to see our kids in action and learn about how school and community come together
• 0:26
  in line with our district values to make it all happen.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER3: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids.
• 0:37
  Here is your host, lifelong educator, and our superintendent, Doctor Leslie Bergstrom.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER2: Hello and welcome to Inside the OSD. Today we are at the Dane County Fair to learn about the supervised agricultural experience that is coordinated
• 0:55
  by Jillian Beaty, an educator at our high school Agriculture Department.
• 1:00
  Let's begin with you, Miss Beaty.
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  SPEAKER4: Yes, I am Jillian Beaty. I'm the agriculture education instructor and FFA adviser at Oregon High School,
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  and I've been employed here for 14 years, so I've had a chance to really work with a lot of different students and their
• 1:14
  families for more than a decade.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER2: That's awesome. Can you describe what a supervised agricultural experiences for our listeners?
• 1:23
  I bet a lot of them don't know.
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  SPEAKER4: So when you think about the county fair, you think about those projects that students take. And that's really what a
• 1:30
  supervised agricultural experience project is.
• 1:33
  It's like the ultimate in individualized educational learning for students.
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  So students like Lindsay, Skyler, and Rae get to choose a project that they're interested in,
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  and today they're interested --this group of ladies-- is interested in the beef industry.
• 1:48
  And so they're able to say, "I want to learn more about how do I manage a beef animal?
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  How do I feed a beef animal? What do I need to do to get it to go from a calf to market weight Um,
• 1:58
  or for breeding purposes," which both um, Skyler and Lindsey raised for breeding purposes.
• 2:04
  And so this allows a student to really dive deeper into the content of what they're interested in.
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  Um, which allows them to, like, blend the learning they're doing at school with their individualized learning as they're solving problems in the real world.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER2: Well, isn't that kind of the ideal? I mean, that's really what we're all shooting for all the time.
• 2:23
  So this is really incredible. Uh, what types of skills do you think students develop during this experience?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER4: Well, I think having grown up with animals and then, of course, watching my students and Lindsey,
• 2:34
  I've watched since you--gosh, when you first started showing, I've watched you since you were like nine.
• 2:40
  Um, what you're going to notice is skill development is the sense of responsibility.
• 2:44
  Um, when you have a student that's responsible for a project, an animal for nine months,
• 2:49
  this is different than just a pet. Like when you have a dog, you have to walk it.
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  When you have a cow, you have to, first, teach it how to want to sit on a halter.
• 2:58
  So you have the responsibility of getting out there, feeding it, to work with that animal so it's comfortable with you. Most
• 3:04
  livestock are not like, "yes, please human, come touch me." Whereas dogs tend to have that tendency with those animals.
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  These animals and livestock, you've got to develop a relationship and that requires a constant,
• 3:16
  consistent schedule of working with that animal.
• 3:19
  And of course, you have to feed it twice a day. You need to exercise that animal.
• 3:23
  Right. And when I start thinking about like, you know, that responsibility piece, there's a grit and perseverance that comes
• 3:28
  with working with animals. Sometimes it's easy.
• 3:31
  Sometimes things go really well. And I know that all three of my young ladies will say,
• 3:36
  and "sometimes it's just really hard, that the animal doesn't want to work with me,
• 3:40
  that the animal animal stepped on my foot and it hurts really bad." But you can't quit.
• 3:45
  You have to get back up there and have that goal.
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  The third skill I would say, is goal setting. So students really have to--they set a goal.
• 3:52
  Where do they want to be? And they continue to work towards that goal.
• 3:56
  So when I think about the benefits of an asset, not only like educationally, they are learning things from Mr.
• 4:02
  Straube that I could not teach inside my classroom walls, because the real world environment of his barn and his farm allows these
• 4:11
  students to gain those competencies. But those soft skills that are so critical for success post-high school are what these students are working on and
• 4:18
  developing each year. And I think about Lindsay, I remember watching Lindsay first show and how,
• 4:23
  you know, she's going to be in the master showmanship contest.
• 4:26
  And, uh, she is such an outstanding show woman in her own right.
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  But what I think is even more spectacular on skills is the mentoring.
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  And yes, Lindsay, over the last couple of years has been one of my best mentors.
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  The reason that Skyler and Rae are showing beef is because of Lindsay.
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  And those are some skills as well, that that thought process of "I've mastered something.
• 4:46
  It's not mine to own, it's mine to share." And I think that's another piece of this essay that really develops a strong individual that's going to be a great
• 4:54
  leader for the next generation.
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  SPEAKER2: Oh, I love what you said. "It's not mine to own.
• 4:58
  It's mine to share." That's -- that's beautiful.
• 5:01
  So the particular project we'll hear about today involves showing a steer and a heifer.
• 5:06
  Correct? Yes. Okay, so this takes a lot of resources and we'll be hearing about those soon.
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  But can you set it up by giving us an overview of what's involved in coordinating this whole thing,
• 5:18
  including the community partnership we're so fortunate to have?
• 5:21
  SPEAKER4: Well, we are incredibly fortunate to have the Straub family in our community that are so committed to agriculture education that they're willing to open up
• 5:31
  their farm and give students that may not have a farm of their own a space to have a farm animal that's not small,
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  a serious 1,300 pound animal. Um, and so we're really lucky that we have an individual saying,
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  "yes, please come out to my farm, please show our animals." And the other piece,
• 5:50
  when I think about the cultural part, is keeping it accessible to all students.
• 5:54
  Yes. And the relationship that we have been so fortunate to have is a combination of bartering and buying.
• 6:00
  So students that come from different backgrounds, you don't have to have a ton of money. They are able to work towards purchasing
• 6:06
  this animal in a bartering system so that they are able to show so they don't have to come from a farm,
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  and they don't necessarily have to have money. We're jumping over those hurdles to make sure that the door is open for student learning,
• 6:19
  so that they get the experience that they need to pursue their future careers.
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  And so I've known Dick for a while now, and I--wonderful, outstanding human, a fantastic educator.
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  And obviously his love for learning and teaching others is what drives our relationship.
• 6:37
  And it's just amazing that we're so lucky in our community to have farmers and individuals like Dick,
• 6:43
  who want to open up their farms for our students to get greater experiences that can't be done inside a classroom.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER2: That is a pretty wonderful thing. So now I'd like to turn to our community member and former UW Madison professor,
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  Doctor Dick Straub. So welcome. And could you please introduce yourself to our listeners and share your background and your connection to the program?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER5: Well, first of all, I'd say thank you for this opportunity.
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  Uh, I am a graduate of Oregon High School.
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  SPEAKER6: You are?!
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  SPEAKER5: 1968.
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  SPEAKER2: That's wonderful!
• 7:15
  SPEAKER5: Many, many years ago. Uh, so I've lived in the Oregon community for most of my life.
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  We moved there in the late 1950s from New York state, and I live on what was my family farm.
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  I've maintained that through my years at the university.
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  I am an agricultural engineer by training.
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  And, uh, that was my academic department.
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  I--at the university, I was both a faculty member and an administrator.
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  I ran the ag research station system for ten years.
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  I finished as a senior administrator in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
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  So I've been involved in agricultural teaching outreach, extension research, my entire--my entire career.
• 7:57
  So it's it's sort of embedded in me to, uh, to be involved in, in that area.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER2: It's a part of who you are.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER5: It's part of who I am.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER2: Yeah. So you've been a supporter of this program for many years.
• 8:11
  So what led you to get involved in this program?
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  Other than the fact that you are an alum, which is kind of exciting, but...
• 8:17
  SPEAKER5: Well, you know, I, I wouldn't say there was any one particular thing that led me to become involved in this opportunity.
• 8:24
  I say, when I look back at my career, you looked at where there were needs or where there were opportunities and where you felt you could have some impact.
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  And, you know, there was there was a family, the Kramers, that wanted to show some cattle or needed a place to go.
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  We knew the Kramers through other, other relationships and we said, "why can't we help them out?" And we you know,
• 8:48
  I want to give students an opportunity to who might not otherwise be able to show cattle.
• 8:53
  I mean, the Kramers live in the village of Brooklyn.
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  Uh, Lindsay and her sister and brother couldn't have kept cattle in their backyard in the village of Brooklyn.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER2: It makes sense to me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER5: And frankly, the other option is there's economic barriers.
• 9:06
  Today, people are spending as much as $4,000 and $5,000 on a showcase show here at at the at the fair.
• 9:14
  And so for a family, many families that's an absolutely that's an economic burden.
• 9:20
  So I've developed a bit of an algorithm where they do technically own the cattle.
• 9:25
  They can sell them at the meat animal sale.
• 9:28
  Uh, they owe me commercial value of the cattle at the time of the sale, but it doesn't require them to make that initial investment of $5,000 or have a
• 9:38
  place to, uh, to to maintain those cattle.
• 9:42
  They can maintain them on my farm. We get to work with the kids.
• 9:45
  They work with us. Uh, there's a benefit to us and that we have for our heifers.
• 9:49
  They're--They're halter broken, so they're easier to work with.
• 9:53
  It's fun to work with the kids at the at the farm.
• 9:57
  So it's, uh, it's an opportunity. It's an opportunity for them, but it's also an opportunity for us to to stay engaged and to help them learn.
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  SPEAKER2: That's really beautiful. The fact that you are able to do this for so many students.
• 10:12
  So can you share some highlights of this partnership?
• 10:15
  Some things that really stand out to you.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER5: You know, I obviously been saw that question ahead of time.
• 10:22
  I don't--I don't think--I don't think there's actually one thing that actually stands out in my mind,
• 10:27
  other than to see the successes and the growth of the students that you you work with.
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  You see them mature, you see. I mean, I think of Lindsay when she first came out and and,
• 10:37
  you know, she she was she was probably in early grade school when her brothers started showing.
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  And you see her grow up and mature and and move into the leadership role she has and the growth in the individual.
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  That's where the reward really, really comes.
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  SPEAKER2: Yeah. So knowing that you spent a lot of time as a college professor, what skills do you believe the students are building that will benefit them when
• 11:04
  they go to whatever's next in schooling?
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  SPEAKER5: Well, I think there's all sorts of skills. One: certainly, perseverance.
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  Uh, certainly, uh, dedication to a project as--as Jillian--Doctor--Mrs.
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  Beaty said here, uh, this is not a short term project.
• 11:24
  It has to have some stick-to-it-ness to it to stay with it.
• 11:28
  Uh, there's challenges as I said. These animals are not trained when the the students start to work with them,
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  so they really have to--have to change with them.
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  They have to learn some of the science and animal science and other, uh, academic type stuff behind the growth of animals and and animal
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  physiology. Feeding. Uh, care of animals.
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  So there's many, many things that students are learning as part of this.
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  And as I said, the perseverance, the work ethic, uh, just the long term life skills are probably the most important things that
• 12:02
  they learn as part of this.
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  SPEAKER2: Yes, I completely agree. Thank you. And now we have some students here with us, and I'm excited to hear about all of this from their perspective.
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  So can you start by introducing yourself to the listeners?
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  SPEAKER7: Um, I'm Skyler Mannella. Uh, this is my first year showing beef.
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  Uh, and Lindsay kind of dragged me into it.
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  Um, my name is Lindsay, and I've been showing since 2017.
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  SPEAKER2: Since 2017? That's--that's really impressive!
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  So what led you to get involved in this project?
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  What was your your push?
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  SPEAKER7: Um, Lindsay texted me one day because we were previously friends, and she was like,
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  "hey, you want to show some beef?" And I'm like, "you know what? Why not?" Get into something new,
• 12:48
  something fresh, something maybe a little out of my comfort zone.
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  I kind of start watching, like my siblings kind of just, like, go out there and,
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  like, watch them and go with them and see all this.
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  And then I started falling in love with animals. So I just knew that I wanted to take this on, and I knew that it would help me in the future.
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  SPEAKER2: And that you're willing to pull some friends into it and give them a new experience,
• 13:08
  too. Yeah. That's beautiful, and I really appreciate that you were willing to try something new.
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  Right. Like that's impressive. What's your favorite thing about preparing for the fair?
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  And then start thinking about sharing also what's most challenging.
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  So go ahead.
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  SPEAKER7: Um, I think my favorite part is seeing all my hard work and dedication that I've put into this project come together and kind of just turn out,
• 13:32
  maybe not exactly the way I expect it, but just turn out in at least somewhat of a good way to where I can get my animals in here in the show ring and I'm not
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  getting like, totally trampled and run over.
• 13:45
  That's great. Um, for me, I guess it's just kind of like, you work with them for a whole year and maybe longer,
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  depending on how, what you're going with them and how many shows you want to do.
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  And just seeing that progress and seeing where you first started.
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  Looking back at now like today, like getting the opportunity to do the master's showmanship,
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  like looking back and realizing, "wow, I started from here not being able to walk them anywhere to now I can take them anywhere." So just like the process of
• 14:10
  getting them to know where you want them to go and making sure you get to that point.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER2: That is so impressive because it's it's really an exemplification of exactly what Miss Beaty and Doctor Straub were talking about.
• 14:22
  Right? That's exactly it. And those skills you can apply to anything you decide to do.
• 14:29
  So that is so much fun. What's the most challenging thing?
• 14:34
  SPEAKER7: Sometimes animals will kind of just be animals, and maybe they won't agree with you in certain times.
• 14:39
  They'll push you around, they'll shove you.
• 14:41
  Yeah, and that can be really frustrating.
• 14:43
  But you can't give up and you have to kind of just go with the flow and stay with it.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER2: And appreciate that animals are animals and they won't always do what you want them to do.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER7: I mean
• 14:53
  SPEAKER2: yeah.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER7: Yeah, a couple thousand pound animals, you can't make them do anything.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER2: How about you, Lindsay?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER7: Um, I feel like one of the challenging parts is especially halter-breaking them. Like, you have this calf that just dropped on the field. You got to go out there
• 15:04
  and you got to restart. Sometimes it's nice to get that restart, but sometimes it's very hard because, like,
• 15:08
  you'll have a good animal and you're like, "I don't want to let them go." But sometimes it's nice to have that fresh start,
• 15:12
  especially if you struggled a year in the past. So trying to bring them in, get them used to the headlock, get them used to being haltered and restarted and
• 15:19
  getting that work to where you want to be. I feel like that's something that's challenging is you have this new animal that's never--that just dropped and that
• 15:25
  doesn't know what's happening.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER2: When you say just dropped, are you saying, are you referring to the fact that they were just born?
• 15:31
  Yep. Okay, so that's a new term for me. They were dropped.
• 15:35
  I like it, I'm gonna keep that one. Thank you.
• 15:38
  So this experience takes place outside of the classroom.
• 15:41
  Obviously, we're in a giant barn right now, if listeners can't tell.
• 15:45
  Um, and outside of the school year, you're here in the summertime, and this isn't even the only fair you do.
• 15:51
  Right? So this is really a commitment. What motivates you to engage in this additional project that is so above and beyond?
• 16:00
  SPEAKER7: Um, for me personally, I just like to keep myself busy, do new things.
• 16:04
  Um, I work and then I have horses, so it's nice to kind of just keep myself busy and be able to do the things that I enjoy.
• 16:11
  And like, we do this during the school year, and I mean, just to be able to continue to be able to do this even after school
• 16:19
  ends. It's it's awesome.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER2: This is year round school for you guys. Yeah.
• 16:23
  Yeah.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER7: In a lot of ways.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER2: What are you thinking, Lindsey?
• 16:26
  SPEAKER7: I don't know. Like, I kind of feel like it's just a great opportunity.
• 16:29
  Like, you just kind of have something you can continue to work on, and you improve all these things that sometimes you don't get the experience in
• 16:35
  the class. So continue to work on something and want to keep improving.
• 16:38
  You're you're learning new things as you go.
• 16:41
  It's like starting, even though you have to work with it in the beginning of the school year, and you also go to school, but you learn so much and it's in a lot
• 16:47
  more hands on, so you get that experience.
• 16:49
  And to be honest, like taking my classes, it has helped me because I can be like,
• 16:53
  "oh, I love animals. So we're taking like this animal class.
• 16:57
  I can use my stuff that I learned in my classroom to help me grow in the fair, or help me teach other kids that want to get into the industry in the project."
• 17:05
  SPEAKER2: You know what else I noticed? Anytime I have the opportunity to be around students doing a supervised agricultural experience is the camaraderie.
• 17:13
  I mean, you guys are--You all seem to be really good friends and supporters of one another.
• 17:19
  You spend a lot of time together, and you also develop really positive relationships with adults who are here just to support you in this.
• 17:27
  It's like, what an amazing way to spend your time, right?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER7: Yeah.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER2: So last thing, just tell me about what skills you feel like you've really developed.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER7: Um. I say perseverance and dedication. Um, being able to just stick with something,
• 17:44
  even though it's hard. Um, like, I know in the beginning they were really,
• 17:48
  SPEAKER2: really,
• 17:49
  SPEAKER7: really rough to work with in the beginning.
• 17:51
  We we definitely had some, some failing in the beginning.
• 17:54
  But, you know, we pushed through that and we got through it.
• 17:58
  But yeah.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER2: So when you started working with this thousand pound animal, you had never done it before?
• 18:05
  SPEAKER7: No.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER2: I mean, so everything was brand new. Yeah.
• 18:08
  That's--that's really something. How about you?
• 18:12
  What did you developed?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER7: Well, like, of course, like leadership. You develop, you develop how to support each other.
• 18:17
  Like, that's a big thing. A lot of people don't know how to support each other. So getting out there and supporting and just like, dedication and responsibility
• 18:24
  and there's just so many you can do like leadership and there's just so much that goes into it that you learn,
• 18:31
  that you've learned in the classroom. So you can take it and you can improve, because every single day you learn something new, you have to learn that, okay?
• 18:38
  When you're a leader, you have to show leadership like you can't. Just like people are looking up to you even though you don't think so. Like, it's just
• 18:43
  like all these things that like, you don't think of that you would use. And it's good because especially working with animals, you learn these skills that you
• 18:50
  never thought you would learn. And then here you are in life and you're using them every day.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER2: That is such an impressive way to put it.
• 18:58
  Really! I'm really both of you. I'm just, uh, bowled over by how impressed I am.
• 19:03
  So, Lindsay, you're a new OSD grad, right?
• 19:08
  So what's next for you? And then how has this prepared you for that thing?
• 19:12
  The next chapter.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER7: Well, I'm gonna go to MATC in the fall to be a large veterinary technician.
• 19:17
  So for me, like, just having the experience and knowing that, like, I fell in love with animals at such a young age and knowing and learning
• 19:25
  my experiences especially will help me in college. Like, take an opportunity. Like, now I want to be a large vet, so like, I didn't know.
• 19:30
  I want to be a large vet until I started.
• 19:32
  All these years of showing and working with animals and riding horses at.
• 19:36
  Man, I can't live my life without them like the days that we like.
• 19:39
  After fair over, I literally sit in my room and I'm like, I need my cows.
• 19:43
  Like I feel so, like empty without with literally without my cows or like, I'm just like,
• 19:48
  out there, like I just have to the joy of animals.
• 19:50
  And it brings out who I really am. So just like taking that into like, my college.
• 19:54
  So I just decided that, you know, I've tried other things, I've tried doing different experiences,
• 20:01
  and I just can't get away from the animals as much as sometimes you don't have patience,
• 20:05
  but--I don't think
• 20:06
  SPEAKER2: you have to get away from the animals, right? Like you're going down the pathway. That's just just for you.
• 20:10
  The idea of the joy of animals bringing out something in you, or the joy of bringing with them,
• 20:17
  bringing out something.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER7: And hopefully continue to--
• 20:18
  SPEAKER2: Really amazing.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER7: --keep showing like, yeah, keep getting out there and teaching new people because I would hate for, of course, to not have anyone show beef. But I would
• 20:25
  hate for the fair to go down. Like this is the thing I really enjoy.
• 20:28
  And I've looked up to and I feel like a lot of kids learn, especially all these daycare kids come in.
• 20:32
  You may not think they're learning, but they always probably come home with something I know I--every year I tell my mom I'm "like, wow, I just learned that
• 20:39
  this year, like, I'm 18 years old and I'm going off to college and I still learn things every day by coming here to the fair,
• 20:45
  just getting that experience." Oh.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER2: Thank you all so much. This has been a really enlightening and fun experience for me.
• 20:54
  Thank you. Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website
• 21:04
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• 21:12
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• 21:18
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