BARRELING OVER THE OPPONENT Katie Patterson, a second year pharmacy school student, developed a passion for riding horses early in life. When Patterson was two days old, she had her first contact with a pony named Sam, and from that point on, she could not stay away from horses. Patterson dedicated herself to horseback riding and competed in several rodeo events. According to Patterson, participation in rodeos required fearlessness and a willingness to get dirty. Patterson participated in different rodeo events such as breakaway roping, goat tying, barrel racing and, her favorite, pole bending. At 4 years old, Patterson began her experience riding a cantankerous pony named Coco. In kindergarten, she got Penny, who had been trained and ridden by her older cousins. When Patterson was 9, she got a legitimate barrel horse named Paco; with Paco, she won a dozen trophy buckles and her first saddle. Paco was a good horse for roping, barreling competitions and goat tying, and Katie rode him until she was 16. When Patterson was in eighth grade, she got a colt. She trained the colt to run barrels, but the colt died at 5 years old. Though Patterson was shocked and momentarily thought she would never ride again, she soon resumed training. During her senior year in high school, she won second place in the Missouri High School Rodeo and was eligible to participate in a national competition in New Mexico. Patterson considered herself lucky to have older cousins who mentored her and whose experiences she learned from. Her family owned around 40 acres of land where they had cattle, and another relative owned a place that Patterson used to practice. For Patterson, rodeos were different from other sports Rodeo queen, graduate student Katie Patterson blows through competition on horseback because competitors were more like a family in which every member took care of the others. Despite the fact that everyone wanted to win, the cowgirls and cowboys supported one another. Though it was difficult to find the time amid academic demands, Patterson invested a lot of time in rodeo practice; she successfully balanced her life and achieved academic honors as well. She was part of the Dean's List in the College of Pharmacy in 2011 . According to Morgan Evans, a second year pharmacy school student, Patterson was intelligent, competitive and had a good heart. "She is definitely able to multitask," Evans said. "I can tell [rodeo] has taught her a lot of responsibility and hard work. You have to be responsible to get all those horses out there. You've got to depend on other people to help you with that because, [there are] a lot of animals and heavy equipment." Freshman Owen Flowers, who met Patterson at a church youth camp in 2008 where she was serving as a mentor, described her as a nice individual and as a great friend. Owen recalled a comical experience from camp that brought the two closer as friends. "We were riding once," Flowers said. "It was me, Katie and two friends from church camp. One of our horses took off with Hannah, so Katie took off after her. Everything was fine, but she ended up having to jump off the horse, and Katie had to go run it down. We look back and kind of laugh." Often students had to choose between things they pursued in high school and new opportunities in college. Patterson was the exception; she found a way to succeed academically, to get to know her peers and to pursue her passion, horses and rodeo competitions. Henry Gonzalez Graduate 1187
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