As a young woman, I struggled immensely with consistently trying to make everyone around me happy, regardless of how I felt. I would do anything and bend over backwards if it meant my parents would be proud of me. This is not to say that I had bad parents, my family was very loving and supportive. However, I had it engraved in my mind that if I did not live up to the "unsaid standard," I would be a disappointment and worth nothing. For the first 20 years of my life, I chased after the approval of others. I was working at the Sheriff's Office back home, taking 911 calls and sending law enforcement and medical help to those in need. After three months, my mental health took a sharp turn in a downward spiral. I had always been a very bubbly person that had a zest for life. I now found myself depressed and suicidal from the calls I received at work. I felt like I had let my whole family down, and that there was no light at the end of the tunnel. I cried out to God for saving grace, and it was in this moment I realized I had been chasing other people's dreams for my life, instead of my own. So in the summer of 2021, I decided to risk it all to pursue my own dreams--to go to school and study livestock production, and work in the agriculture and ranching industry. I relocated to a tiny town where I had some extended family living at the time, who happened to have an empty home on the property that was ready to move in. I was almost 5 hours away from home, with no job and no real connections. I was terrified that I made a terrible mistake and that I would never make it on my own. My parents were making bets that I would last two months tops, and that I would be coming home "with my tail between my legs." I thought they were right, but I continued to rely on my Heavenly Father and knew that I was where He wanted me. I went to work at a local feed store part-time, and on weekends I picked up shifts at a small family farm and petting zoo. While I was checking out a customer at the feed store, I was offered more part-time work at her dual enterprise cattle ranch and timber farm. In one month, I had three jobs, all of which I absolutely adored. I remained at all three jobs for over a year, until I was offered a full-time managerial position at the family farm. I have been able to put myself through school as well as pay my bills, but with rising prices times are getting tighter. After I complete my degree, I plan to go out west and find work at a large scale cattle operation and feedlot and remain an advocate for the beef industry.