Written By: Clayton Schowe, NALJA Director

Hello all! For those that are not familiar with me, my name is Clayton Schowe. I’ve been involved with Limousin cattle since 2012. Currently, my family and I reside in the southwest Missouri town of Cassville. Where Dad likes to say, “It takes people here and hour and a half to watch sixty minutes.” I am starting my second semester at Iowa State University where I am majoring in animal science. I plan to continue with a masters and potentially PhD related to cattle. Prior to Iowa State, I attended Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. At both schools I was a member of the livestock judging team, one of my passions. Aside from judging and being around livestock I am an avid sports enthusiast, so if you ever want to talk sports or make a bet just get in touch!

In my twenty years of life I have been put in many situations. All to often they have been a class. From school, to showing, and even judging. Growing up school is something we all get to enjoy. In middle school the students tend to gain the ability of choosing some of the class they get to partake in, electives. The older we get, the more say we have in what we take. This is where things became more fun for me because I was able to take classes I wanted to be in once I got to high school. Such as animal science, college algebra, and of course some gym classes. Choosing classes is certainly a fun thing, but you must choose wisely. And remember it’s just a class. Often, we know what we want, but occasionally there will be classes we are required to take or even maybe some we think we might enjoy but we end up disliking the class. At the end of the day though it is imperative to get the most out of those closes. Whether its our favorite class of the day or the one we dread going to, all the classes we encounter will impact us as students and people in general. So instead of just giving up or throwing the towel in, get as much as you can from the subject. Never know when something may come from it in the future.

Showing cattle and judging livestock are two things I thoroughly enjoy. Both places I can be thrown in too tough classes. And, neither event do I get a say in where I fall or what I have to judge. It’s always nice to luck out and get a class where your chances of succeeding are high. And those judging classes when you turn around to a gift are the best. But often it’s those tough classes where you stand somewhere in the middle you learn the most. Or it’s that class or two in a judging contest that really makes you scratch your head and stand for something that allows the most growth as a contestant. Regardless, we all get our chance during reasons to explain what we were thinking and hope the guy or woman listening agrees with what we saw. But still, we must remember it’s just a class.

In school, showing, judging and sports, I was taught many characteristics. The ability to be resilient always came in handy. Or, being able to persevere and move past a challenging task. As we grow older, the decisions we make tend to have more consequences, so being able to confident stand behind a choice makes thing a little bit easier. Yet, when we make the wrong choice sometimes, we must own up and admit that was the case. Even still, no matter the setting it’s just a class, so learn from it, grow from it, and be ready to succeed when a similar situation arises in the future.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” -John Wooden

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6