Applying rodeo to real world

Jenny Rodriguez has never been to a rodeo, but she found an assembly by two SandHills Rodeo participants fascinating.

"It was a really fun experience and very interesting," the eighth-grader said.

Brody Bolton and Stran Smith came to talk to students at Ector Junior High about hard work and reaching toward goals. Applying their experience on the rodeo circuit to life in general, they pushed students to tough it out when struggling to succeed.

"It's quite simple. To succeed, you have to put in the time and have the attention to the details," Smith said. Smith is the 2008 world champion calf roper.

Texas Circuit Champion Saddle Bronc Rider Brody Bolton said he wanted to encourage students. To him, the cowboy image embodies true character he wanted to pass on to students. His job requires the overcoming of his own fears.

"I have to overcome my fears to succeed, just like you," Bolton said.

Smith told students they need to write down ideas and goals in order to make them reality, saying people who write down goals are 90 percent more likely to reach them. He also encouraged students to turn bad into good. He pointed to his experience as a child sweeping the porch. He hated sweeping the porch but turned it into a game just to see how fast he could sweep. Now, he sweeps his barn almost religiously.

"You can eat off that floor," Smith said. "I took something I hated and turned it into something I could like."

Ninth-grader Brailand Calhoun jumped on a fake bucking bronco - a padded seat atop a giant spring that swayed back and forth when pushed - toward the end of the rodeo presentation.

"It seemed like a fun thing to do," she said. "It was an adrenaline rush."

Students said they enjoyed the show. Seventh-grader Ashley Cruz said she wants to try to write down her goals like Smith suggested.

"The speakers were pretty cool," Cruz said.