Where I am today

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                Where am I?  This question can simply mean your current location.  I will answer that part, but also a deeper part.  Where I am in my life at this moment is a much more complicated answer.

                Where I am currently is a small town in rural Nebraska, on a farm.  I grew up here and this is my home.  I have lived in the same house all my life.  And have been in the same room for the majority of that time.  This house has a spacious back yard for our dogs to run and play, and several pastures.  When I was little we only had one horse now we have 5 on the place and they are what make this place my safe haven.  Also living in this house is my family.  Without them this place would be empty and lifeless.  My dad is the head of the house and protector.  My mom is the caregiver, and my brother is well….a brother.  He is the annoying and loud one.  There is never a dual moment when he is home.

                At this point in my life is where I’m about ready to leave home and go off to college.  I have mixed feelings about this.  I am excited to travel to a new place and have new freedoms and independence, but I am going to have to leave everything I have ever known.  I will have to leave my friends too.  In 6^th grade I made the best friend I have ever had and we still are the best of friends.  We joke that we aren’t friends, we are sisters.  I have also made several close friends over the past few years.  They are going to be harder to leave than my family.  But, what are going to be even harder to leave will be my horses.  Anyone who has owned a horse or anyone that has a pet they love will know that the animals aren’t just an animal, they are family.  Going off to college means that I am going to have to sell some, and leave others behind.  While I plan to be on an equestrian team at college, it just won’t be the same as riding my own horse.

                I am also at the point where I know what I want to do with my life; I just have to work at getting there.  My plan after graduating high school is to pursue a vet degree at college.  After I go through about 8 years of college and a lot of debt I want to become a large animal vet and work on farm animals.  While I am doing that I want to learn equine chiropractic and acupuncture.  I know of people that make a living off of just that so that is where I want to end up.  Then I can create my own schedule and be able to maybe raise a few western pleasure foals each year and show at the major shows.  This is a big goal but I am determined to get there.  It will take years upon years, but should be worth it when I get there.  If I end up changing my plan, so be it.  If I change it there will be a good reason.

                At this point in my life I am also old enough to understand the importance of a job and how bad our economy is at the moment.  This makes me worried about the future.  My mom is a person that has to have a plan so I have gotten use to having one.  And looking to the future of the economy is bleak at this time.  My dad reminds me that I can’t plan that far ahead, and I need to focus on the now more than the when.  So this year I am trying to focus more on just this year.  I can worry about my homework, and about having fun with my friends with every spare time I have.  Since I am going to be going away I am spending all the time I can with them, my parents sometimes get mad at me because they think I’m not home enough.

                Overall, I am at home with my friends and family.  I am about to venture off on my own which is a scary thing but I know that they will always be there for me, no matter how far away I go.  I am more responsible and ready for more freedom and independence.  But most importantly, when I leave I will never forget where I came from.