-
Shelby Annen - Nazareth High School-Senior, Nazareth 4H Club, Nazareth FFA, Parents: J.Mac & Lesly Annen
Why are ag programs necessary?
Agriculture provides our world with food and clothing. Day after day, farmers and ranchers work hard to tend to their crops and maintain the health and well-being of their animals. For me, however, agriculture has provided an outlet of peace in a world that is constantly changing.
A month after moving to a new school and adjusting to life in Nazareth, my closest friend was killed in a horrific car accident. I began to wander through life in a daze. My parents decided to encourage me to show livestock, and I reluctantly agreed. When I worked with these animals, I regained control of my life. I slowly started to talk about my project at school. My classmates would ask to come and see my hard work, and I gradually emerged from my shell by allowing others to enjoy something so personal to me. I was insecure, scared, and confused, but showing livestock became my safe haven.
For the past eight years, this haven has not faltered. My days in high school have consisted of washing, training, feeding, and handling calves. Most of my friends do not understand why I loved working with my animals so much. I suppose I did not know either, but I still found myself out in the barn day after day. Any social event I missed did not faze me because I was doing what I loved the most. Steers’ attitudes were met with my calm control and docile touch as I continued to teach them their daily routine. All the work I put in was about to pay off.
Show day finally arrives, and I'm giddy with anticipation. I wake up at 4:00 a.m. I focus on my shaking breath and attempt to ease my nerves, with little success. I am told to take the steer, and as fast as light, it is time to enter the ring, and everything I have done for the past year will be judged in a matter of thirty minutes. The nerves are replaced with stone cold adrenaline, and my steer and I are a machine. I step into the ring, count to ten, and the bright lights hit my face. My steer moves swiftly like a cat, and I am motioned to the sale line. I walk my steer into the set with the technique we have practiced every day. One by one, people are directed into their placing, while I stand in line making sure my steer does not move and fix anything if he does. Suddenly, all the pain, sweat, and tears are forgotten as I am handed my blue ribbon.
Stock Showing is my talent, my passion, and my love, but it is also so much more than that. As an insecure little girl, lost in pain, I did not want to live. After working with steers, I had a reason to enjoy life again. I found the importance of agriculture, and the importance of agriculture saved me.