Butler Alumni: Why Limit Yourself?

Butler CC Alumni Chelsea Good

I have had the privilege of knowing Chelsea Good her entire life and can say without a shadow of a doubt that some things don’t change.  She has always been stubborn, determined, and to this young lady the word “no” is never absolute (she sees it as more of a challenge). Chelsea is originally from Parker, Colorado.  She came to Butler Community College and competed as a member of the nationally acclaimed Livestock Judging Team.  She was also a Grizzly Ambassador.  After completing her A.S. degree in Agriculture at Butler she continued her education at Kansas State University where she finished not 1, not 2, but 3 undergraduate degrees (within the semi-typical 4 yr timeframe).  Her B.S. degrees are in Public Relations, Agriculture Communications and Journalism, and Political Science.  Chelsea is a great example of how a community college student can seamlessly transition to a senior college and still graduate on time.  Not one to sit still, Chelsea also competed on the K-State Debate Squad, National Agri-Marketing, and Animal Science Academic Quadrathalon teams.  She also was an active member of Collegiate Cattlewomen, Collegiate Farm Bureau and the College of Agriculture Student Council.  After completing her undergraduate coursework Chelsea stayed at K-State and earned a M.A. in Communication Studies. 

 She and other Kansas State University agricultural student leaders formed the group Food for Thought and she continues to be a regular contributor.  Additionally she has been very active with the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s Young Producers Council (YPC) and also contributes to their blog. 

 Since 2006 Chelsea has worked independently as a freelance writer for various agricultural publications if you follow this link you can get to her online portfolio  and read a sampling of her work.  Chelsea just celebrated her ¼ life birthday (crisis free I believe) and in her short 25 years has already accomplished a great deal.

 Currently, Chelsea is a 2^nd year law student at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. In addition to being a student she works part time with the Kansas Livestock Association where she assists the legal team with legislative research and writes for the Kansas Stockman Magazine. She also works part time for the lobbyist firm of Pinegar, Smith and Associates assisting with legislative research and client communication.  Yes, Chelsea has a lot on her plate and yet she rarely misses a chance to cheer on the Wildcats, in person.

 Chelsea describes herself as an Agriculture Advocate.  She hopes to develop a career representing the agriculture industry in governmental affairs. However, if her past is any indication of her future I wonder what ELSE she may do along the way.  Like many Butler graduates she doesn’t wait for things to happen, she makes them happen. In Chelsea’s world, the question is always, “Why limit yourself?”

What do you Call Normal?

Well you can surly see from the previous posts that we had one interesting weekend however all in all I think it was a good way to start out our sophomore judging career.  But instead of spotlighting on the present I decided to tell you a little more about myself and family. As you no I grew up in Central Wyoming raising Cattle and Show pigs.  My Family consists of My brother Jeremiah (29) Casey (25), Me Whitney (19) and my father Kelly (56), and I no why some of you may be thinking where is my mother. Well in 2003 she got a fast acting leukemia and passed away, my father Kelly has had Multiple Sclerosis since I was born over 19 years ago and is to the point that he has to be taken care of. So my family situation isn’t as “normal” as you would think. So after these things both happened my brother Jeremiah was left the position of raising his 12 year old sister and guiding and helping Casey with his life also.  To also add to this he was left with taking care of our family ranch, our father, and Casey and I. Not an easy task to say the least for a 21 year old kid. Now I no some of you are saying wow already but this is not where the mishaps and tragedy ends. On October 5 2008 our house burnt down and badly injuring my brother Casey. He had over 70% of his body in 3rd degree burns and was transported to the Greeley Colorado burn center and stay there for many months, he had many skin graphs and surgeries,  But now he is doing amazing and bounced back from an amazing feat and I am so proud of him. Yes I no some of you are thinking wow we have been through so much, and yes I no that we have but you never get anywhere dwelling in the past so why it doesn’t get you anything to sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You have to look at what you have been dealt and take whatever hand you have and pretty much run with it and live life to the fullest. That is one of my motto’s and I think is a great way to look at things.

The AkSarBen Adventure

So I’m sure you have seen several recent posts about our marathon judging weekend.  We started the weekend at home in El Dorado for the Flint Hills Classic Judging Contest, moved on to Wichita bright and early Saturday morning for the Mid-America Contest, and rounded out the weekend with the sophomores and the 4 freshmen girls still competing as 4-Hers heading to Omaha, Nebraska for the AkSarBen Contest.

You can read about all of our results in Morgan’s recent post, so I won’t restate that, but we all had a great weekend!!

Anyways, our trip up to Nebraska was quite interesting to say the least. It began by leaving Wichita around 9 pm to start the several hour drive to Omaha. We reached what was supposed to be our hotel for the already short night at approximately 3 am, only to find out that the hotel GAVE OUR ROOMS AWAY!! (Needless to say, Coach Chris was not happy…) So we began the search for another place to sleep, and around 3:40 in the morning we finally found a Candlewood Suites to stay at and most of us make it to bed around 4 am after unpacking the trailer, getting room keys, and showering. I think it was the general consensus that those were the most comfortable beds for the whopping 2 hours of sleep we got.

The story only gets more interesting when we attempt to actually get to the contest the next morning. We are literally so close to the Qwest Center that we could see it!  However it was just our luck that Omaha decided to host a marathon the same morning of our contest.  We sat at a stop light for 45 minutes waiting on these runners!! Eventually, we gave in and WALKED to the contest, which the officials were nice enough to wait for us to start.

However, personally, I think the results made the contest well worth it.  Plus, it makes for quite the story 🙂

This just shows how dedicated we are to judging.

Butler Livestock Judging- Results of the 3 Contest in 3 days!

Flint Hills Classic:

Sophmore Division:

• Chandler Akins (Ga): 7th Overall, 5th Reasons, 6th Cattle, 7th Sheep & Goats
• Morgan Meisenheimer (Md): 1st in Oral Reasons
• Sarah Loughridge (Ga): 7th in Cattle
• Analena Simmons (Ks): 9th in Swine
• Team: 3rd Overall, 2nd Reasons, 3rd Swine, 4th Cattle, 4th Sheep & Goats

Freshman Division:

• Maverick Squires (Ok): 5th Overall, 2nd in Oral Reasons, 8th in Cattle
• Kyle Wilson (In): 10th Overall, 4th in Cattle, 5th in Oral Reasons, 7th Swine
• Taylor Graham (Tn): 2nd in Cattle, 6th in Reasons
• Ben Gleason (Ks): 6th in Swine
• Team: 3rd Overall, 2nd in Oral Reasons, 2nd Swine, 3rd in Cattle

 

Mid-America Classic (Wichita)

Sophmore Division:

• Chandler Akins (Ga): 3rd Overall, 2nd in Cattle, 3rd in Sheep & Goats, 5th in Oral Reasons
• Will Johnson (Ne): 6th Overall
• Barrett Carlisle (Tx): 7th Overall, 1st in Swine
• Morgan Meisenheimer (Md): 10th Overall
• Analena Simmons (Ks): 4th in Sheep & Goats, 4th in Swine
• Team: 2nd Overall, 1st in Cattle, 1st in Swine, 2nd in Sheep & Goats, 2nd in Oral Reasons

Freshman Division:

• Brett Moriarty (Ws): 3rd Overall, 3rd in Cattle
• Taylor Graham (Tn): 6th Overall, 1st Cattle
• Maverick Squires (Ok): 5th Reasons
• Kyle Wilson (In): 5th Sheep & Goats
• Team: 1st Overall, 1st Reasons, 1st Swine, 2nd in Cattle, 5th in Sheep & Goats

 

Ak-Sar-Ben

Sophmore Division:

• Morgan Meisenheimer (Md): 1st Overall, 1st Reasons, 1st Sheep & Goats, 2nd Swine, 3rd Cattle
• Chandler Akins (Ga): 3rd Overall, 1st Swine, 3rd Reasons, 5th Sheep & Goats
• Whitney Darr (Wy): 5th Overall, 2nd Oral Reasons, 3rd Swine
• Ethan James (Ks): 1st in Cattle
• Analena Simmons (Ks): 4th in Reasons
• Barrett Carlisle (Tx): 5th in Reasons
• Team: 1st Overall, 1st Reasons, 1st Cattle, 1st Swine, 1st Sheep & Goats

Maryland, Summer, Cows + Camera

Hello!

So this summer Butler alumni Michael “Carl” Kinna and I got bored one day and decided to photo cows – here are a few of the pictures 🙂

~Morgan Meisenheimer

Now for some funny ones!

 

K-State College of Ag Visits Butler

Here at Butler the vast majority of our students transfer on to a 4-yr university after their two years here.  In this part of the country it amazes me how seamlessly students are able to make the transition from a Community College to the University level without losing credit hours. This is due to careful advising and the close ties our Ag department maintains with the College of Agriculture (in many institutions).  Butler CC is located in El Dorado, KS which is only about 2 hours from Kansas State University.  Many of our students do continue their education there.  Last night over 40 of our students met with representatives from Kansas State University here at our facility to learn about academic programs, activities, scholarships, and transfer student opportunities at the next level.

 We thank Dr. Don Boggs, College of Ag Assoc. Dean; Dr. Robert Bennett, Gran Science and Industry, and Dr. Scott Schaake, Animal Sciences and Industry professor and Livestock Judging Coach for taking time out of their busy schedules to help our Butler students learn about the possibilities available after graduation.

Dr. Boggs visits with Butler students about opportunities at K-State

Dr. Bennett explains how beneficial a degree in Grain or Feed Science can be.

Dr. Schaake tells students how important it is for them to get involved in campus activities and also to get to know their instructors.

Picture Time!

This weekend, I made a little road trip to Elk City, Kansas… aka the farm!  During my time home, we pictured cattle for our female sale we have coming up November 8. I enjoy being on the picturing committee, but by the end of the day, I’m also ready to be done! These cattle aren’t the trained, halter broke cattle that are at shows. Therefore it takes a little more effort. We have quite the crew to get this task accomplished. My brother and sister, Ethan and Esther, are responsible for cleaning up the cattle, and Flinton, my other brother, sometimes my dad, and I are outside taking the pictures. We have a small hot wire pen built that’s big enough for the cattle to walk around and strike a ‘natural’ pose, but small enough we aren’t worn out from following them around in a circle! My dad and I responsible for getting the cattle to pose and get their ears forward, while Flinton takes the picture. Below are a few pictures for y’alls viewing pleasures 🙂

Clean up crew! Esther and Ethan. They look like they need to be cleaned up next. (I don't think they knew I was taking a picture of them.)

Take that picture, Flinton!

Nothin’ Like the State Fair!

As a young girl, I can remember waking up super early in the morning, loading the cattle on the trailer, and heading out to the Kansas State Fair. It was super great because a) it was a cattle show, and b) I got to skip a day of school! Who wouldn’t love that, right?!

The State Fair had been going on for the past two weeks, and finally came to an end last Sunday. I went up both weekends to take it all in. I met up with some great friends, ate fried oreos and cheesecake on a stick (YUM!), rode the huge ride that swings back and forth (can’t remember its name!), and saw some great livestock being exhibited. My boyfriend’s roommate won Reserve Champion Market Hog, it was exciting to be there to see that! My family took a Hereford pair to exhibit in the pen show. We were fortunate enough to claim Grand Pair! Overall, it was a great fair, filled with great memories. I’ll leave you with a few pictures and a quote. I recently found it and LOVE it!

“The most wasted of all days is one without laughter” -E.E. Cummings.

I can assure you with the people in pictures in my life, I never have to go one day without laughing! 🙂

Jess! My fellow red headed friend from Nebraska!

Megan, myself, and Sarah!

The Best Friend, Andrew.

The Boyfriend, Brad 🙂

ROOMIES! love these girls 🙂

Let’s find a little positivity!

   Let’s face it…college tests are a big deal. The night before the test, it is common to cram-pack studying and make sure you are 100% fully prepared for the test. So you think, how awful would it be to show up to class one day and see your teacher handing out tests and scantrons and you never knew there was a test?? Well, let me tell ya, because unfortunately, I experienced just that this week. Now, before you begin making generalizations that I must be a bad student and simply ill-prepared, I assure you I am not!! I am the type of student who is always prepared no matter what….so, the whole “not knowing about a test” ordeal was NOT good! I’m quite sure for the first ten minutes of class, I sat at the table and simply stared at the test in shock! Luckily, one of my fellow livestock judging teammates was sitting next to me (he also had no clue about the test either!) looked over at me and said “Wellp, just answer the questions”. So I did. And I’m quite certain I did……quite poorly on that test. After I left the building, I pulled out my calendar and looked to the date, no test written down! Apparently, I wrote the test on the WRONG DATE! Instead of writing “test on tuesday”, I wrote “test on thursday” which, I must say is certainly not a good thing! So, the rest of the day didn’t go so well after that as I was pretty bummed!

BUT! As the saying goes “What goes down, must come up” (okay, maybe it’s the other way around :)) but seriously, my attitude HAD to improve. And you know what? It did! At the beginning of the week I had planned out my days and had written in big letters “STUDY FOR TEST” on Wednesday night  – for my supposed test on thursday! And you know what?? It’s Wednesday night and I do not have to study for a test!! 🙂 instead, I am catching up on some hard core cleaning – not that my house is beyond filthy or anything – and taking the time to blog and give one word of advice….always keep your head up!!

Sometimes in life, we are going to face a few obstacles and days that just flat stink, but never let it get to ya! Hold your head up high, keep a smile on your face, and attack your days with eager happiness! 🙂

Best of luck -Emily-

Just something to make you think…

Hey everyone!  I suppose before I get started I’ll take a quick moment to introduce myself.  My name is Analena Simmons and I am currently a sophomore at Butler Community College.  Like several of my fellow bloggers, I am also current member of the nationally recognized livestock judging team here at Butler.  I’m originally from Barnard, KS, which is a very, very, very small town in North Central Kansas.  I grew up on a very small family farm where my grandma grew wheat, milo, soybeans, and alfalfa and my close and extended family raised a few head of commercial cattle.  However about six years ago my dad and brother began a new enterprise by purchasing a few head of Boer cross meat goats and starting their own meat goat herd.  What started as just two show does has quickly turned into a 60+ head herd of percentage Boer genetics.  Over the years I was also very active in showing cattle, hogs, sheep, and meat goats.

Just a couple of our fall kidding nannies. The dark headed one in front is actually one of our original 2 does!

Anyways, now that you know just a little bit about me I’ll quit talking about myself and move on to something else.  I’ve always had this thing for quotes.  Inspirational quotes, funny quotes, informational quotes, motivational quotes…you get the idea.  It’s kind of an addiction I suppose, and I honestly think I got it from my dad since he is always find me new quotes just for the fun of it.  Well my dad recently found one ag related quote that I wanted to share with you:

“Agriculture is a business.  Farming without a financial motive is gardening.”                            – Russ Parsons

I honestly like this quote because it is very true.  I don’t know a single farmer or rancher that sets out to lose money with his or her operation.  While it is no doubt true farming is an entire way of life for us, it is also a business and major source of income for many people.

However, what I truly find to be more interesting than the quote itself is the man who said it.  Russ Parson is a food editor and columnist for none other than the Los Angles Times.  This is a man from a major metropolitan area with little, if any, experience with actually sitting in a tractor plowing the fields that grow the crops for the food he critiques or working the steers providing the steaks he gets to eat at fancy 5 star restaurants, yet he still understands the fact that we don’t grow this food just for the fun of it.  As much as we love it, we want, and need, to benefit from farming financially.  I personally find it extremely refreshing to hear a “city slicker” defend agriculture.

What do you think?

Here’s the website of the article this quote is from.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/06/food/la-fo-calcook6-2010jan06

I encourage you to read it!  It’s very interesting to read his opinions about farming and how it is changing and how it affects anyone who eats, but I also encourage you to take what he says with a grain of salt.