After 33 years of teaching approximately 10,000 undergraduate students about animal agriculture, I have found that only two factors will cause a student to fail in the pursuit of reaching their vocational goals – lack of passion and poor attitude.
Difficult courses can be remedied with tutoring and hard work, so long as passion to succeed and an “I can do it” attitude accompany the hard work.
I have worked cattle all of my adult life and much of my younger years as well. I milked cows to support my college expenses and judged and showed dairy cattle as well as participated in several FFA and 4-H field days.
When I worked and managed others’ dairies, and later when I supervised students at our college dairy unit, I hoped to find students as passionate about our industry, cows and producing a clean wholesome product, as I was at their age. I had a passion for my work, the cows, constantly looking for ways to improve our facilities, the genetics of our cattle, the cattle’s overall health and well-being, to show off the herd and to share with others in our improvements.
Watching others does not stimulate passion after the first glance, but being able to pick up a halter and walk across the showring with a winning animal does.
In working college show cattle, both ends of the halter must be worked. The attitude of the student is equally as important as the attitude of the cow in the ring. Animal handling, ethics and animal well-being must always be more important than a blue ribbon. Our industry’s wholesome product is not just the milk we produce, but the wholesomeness of the young people associated with its product. The care of our animals is what separates us from industries that work strictly with inanimate objects, turn off the lights after an eight-hour day and go home. We can’t do that. We don’t want to do that.
Fitting and showing cattle teaches the student about nutrition, maintaining individual records, how to interpret DHI records, showmanship, preventative health care, grooming (both the animal and the student), transportation of show animals, economics of registered versus commercial cattle and being ready on time (a very important trait in our business).
Patience is a virtue. Trying to teach a heifer to properly place her feet, to keep her head up, back straight, eyes alert and not take off on you requires patience. Fitting and showing cattle teaches the student that preparedness, patience, repetition and good sportsmanship can be both educational and rewarding.
These skills can be discussed in lecture and viewed by watching others perform these basic husbandry tasks. However, only when the student has the responsibility to actually perform will he or she develop the skills needed to succeed in our industry. Learning by doing means success.
The most successful students we have had were those with passion for the animals and industry they worked with. They enjoyed taking a young calf, halter-breaking it, fitting and showing, participating in judging and working with the college’s milking herd. Pride in improving the quality of the animals you work with increases with the opportunity to do so. Sitting behind a desk and learning the basics is important. However, the student who will succeed is the one who will “learn by doing.”
Students who have the following attitude will succeed: “I acknowledge I will hit roadblocks, have difficult classes, meet scary people and have horrible professors – but I will succeed in spite of all that because I want to learn, to improve my skills and to increase my knowledge and opportunities.”
The young student at the end of the halter clearly demonstrates passion in cow showmanship. Both he and his cow are well-groomed and disciplined. They have respect for each other. They are attentive and ready – all that it takes to be successful in this great country of ours. I would most welcome the student at the end of the halter in our undergraduate program. He/she will be a successful student and a productive member of our society. PD
Leland S. Shapiro
Pre-vet Professor at
L.A. Pierce College in
Woodland Hills, CA
