“Pull your shoulder’s back Cash, walk with confidence.” My mother was always on me about my awful posture growing up. I often walked and stood with my shoulders slumped down like a child pouting in the corner. I would always roll my eyes and say, “It’s fine, Mom,” as I ignored the advice that she had given me. However, she was always insistent that it mattered and people were always paying attention whether you thought so or not. Confidence is key, no matter what you’re doing, as I soon found out. 

Growing up, one thing I loved was bull riding. The PBR and legends like J.B Mauney were the coolest things to me, and I hoped one day I could do that too. My dad had actually rodeoed quite a bit through his childhood and eventually, after a lot of begging, he reluctantly allowed me to begin steer riding, which is for youth too young for the large bulls yet. I had not been long when I found myself in Barnard, Missouri for a weekend. I had already gotten bucked off and stepped on Saturday, so I was hoping to have a good day on Sunday. However, as I made my way to the draw sheet, I realized I had drawn the toughest steer in the pen. Fear quickly consumed me and as the event got closer, it only got worse. Soon enough, I was lowering myself into the chute and wrapping my hand in the bull rope. Still consumed with fear, I nodded my head; in an instant I felt myself land on the dirt head first. A broken rib and concussion later, I was going to be out for a while. 

I eventually made a comeback and rode a few more steers before realizing it just wasn’t for me like I had thought it would be. But I learned an important lesson – looking back on that day, had I been confident in my abilities and went into it with a more open mind, I might not have ridden that steer, but I believe it wouldn’t have turned out nearly as bad as it did. As we go through our journeys in FFA and life, we might be thrown into situations we don’t feel ready for. However, if you have an open mind and the confidence to try, nothing will be able to stand in your way.