Letter from the editor

For those of you who will be stepping in the Jim Norick Arena soon, you may think that you’ll make your mark when the judge slaps your heifer as champion. It’s possible, but it’s more likely that your small daily actions will form your reputation and legacy in the cattle business.

I know many of you are leaders in all kinds of youth activities. As I developed into past leadership roles, I didn’t get how people were watching me until a parent told me I was her little girl’s role model and she watched everything I did. The light suddenly turned red as I started reflecting and realizing how many eyes were on me at any given moment — and the huge responsibility that came with that awareness.

Sure, people will notice when you win, but they also will notice how you lose or how you help a younger member learn how to do something. It’s these small daily actions that influence your life’s winding road through the ups and downs and around the bends, whether for positive or negative.

I was recently standing first in line at my local feed store’s dock. A teenager came up from behind and walked around me on the other corner of the dock. I thought I knew what she was going to do. I was wrong. Not only did she cut, but she ran down the side of the dock waving her receipt when the load-out guy came out. I was speechless ... appalled at her impatience and rudeness. I knew from her t-shirt and the feed she got that she showed goats at a nearby school. In less than 10 minutes of me getting on Facebook, I knew her name.

She didn’t know me. She didn’t know how many 4-H and FFA contests or scholarship applications I judge. If I see her name again, I’ll remember her behavior that day and a big, yellow caution light will flash in my head.

Just as that girl left me with a warning light, I remember the positives too. In 2009, I had broken my wrist a few days before the Ag Media Summit. On the first night, a Texas A&M student saw me struggling to carry my food with my arm in a sling. During the entire convention, she continued to check on me and see if she could help me. Her care and compassion during a rough patch in my road demonstrated her character to me. When I was later hiring, I called McKenzie and hired her. She had earned a green light in my mind.

A few years later, I was working at the Fort Worth Stock Show when an elderly man fell down the concrete steps and crashed into the Watt Arena wall. In the ring, cattle were competing for division champion. In the time it took me to call the on-site medics, a brother and sister from Idaho had swapped out the people on the halters in the ring and were both running toward the stands. I later learned they had both trained as EMTs in case of emergencies in their remote area. The siblings stabilized the man until an ambulance arrived. I’ve never seen a more defining example that show people matter much more than the show itself. The selfless, quick actions of Kyle and Katie still stick with me years later — green light. It probably won’t surprise you that their family went on to win several purple banners that day. Championships always start with your actions at home.

Your show experience, 4-H and FFA, plus your school activities will create a valuable cornerstone of your life, but the people you meet and the network you form along your pathway will either bless or curse you in ways you can’t even imagine yet. In whatever you do, remember that with every day, younger eyes and people that will be important to your future success are always watching you at every intersection along your life’s road.

Live your best life,

Lisa Bryant