Since the age of 4, I have been determined to ride horses.
My parents’ attempts to avert my interest to less dangerous and more affordable sports like karate, golf, field hockey, or tennis – anything other than horses – were futile. After years of pleading, I was finally able to persuade them to let me ride and eventually buy a horse. Four years of horse ownership passed in a blur and the time came for me to leave home for college.
Heading to college was bittersweet; although I had to sell my horse, I was excited at the opportunity to attend Rutgers and be part of the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences’ equine science program.
At this time, my mother was also battling cancer. She was diagnosed my senior year of high school and passed away during my freshman year from a melanoma that spread to her brain. As a caregiver for my mother, I did not have the inclination or time to spend at the barn. When my mother lost her battle with cancer, I was devastated; but I did not to let the grief of her death overcome my life because I realized what was most important to her was for me to pursue my dreams.
As a child, I recall being encouraged by my mother to discover my talents, find something that I truly loved to do and try to forge a career path doing whatever that something happens to be.
In this time of great sadness – and to honor the memory of my mother – I decided to reclaim my joy, and pursue the positive activities that contributed to a healthy lifestyle. I was going to ride horses once again.
One of the many opportunities that attracted me to Rutgers was the Mounted Patrol. Getting paid to ride horses was a dream I thought was only for professionals and police officers. Rutgers has the only student-run Mounted Patrol in the nation and I could not be more excited at the idea of being part of it. Now, as a supervisor for the Rutgers University Mounted Patrol, I have acquired marketable job skills, such as public speaking, and I have grown in my leadership capabilities.
I’ve also sought out winter classes offered within my major. The “Developing Future Leaders for the Equine Industry” short course caught my attention and I quickly registered. This two-day intensive lecture and discussion brought to my attention all the vast employment opportunities in the equine industry in New Jersey from racehorse management and training to equine exercise physiology. Another great benefit to this class was learning to build professional relationships and refining my networking skills to obtain a position within whichever field I choose.
My senior year at Rutgers has been a pivotal time in my life. I know I have the conviction to push myself in the right career path, partly because of my past challenges and triumphs. I continue to be involved in a variety of academic and extracurricular activities. Cultivating my own independent research project under the guidance of Sarah Ralston, who teaches in the Department of Animal Sciences, is another enriching experience offered by the university. My hope is that as a George H. Cook scholar, my research project will help determine if becoming an equine science researcher would be a fulfilling career option.
As an animal science major and equine science minor, I am pursuing the goal of doing what I love. Although I am still unsure of my ultimate career path, I will continue to pour my time and heart into the industry that brought me back to life.
Merrill Simpson, a senior majoring
in animal sciences at the School of Environmental and Biological
Sciences, is a George
H. Cook Scholar honors student. She has been awarded the Equine Science Center’s Doris C. Murphy scholarship
for the academic year.