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At the age of seven, she wrote an essay and won a Shetland pony. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe minis were boring from that point on,\u201d she joked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She showed both Shetlands and miniatures. She joined McLoud\u2019s 4-H club at age nine and started showing goats. When she started attending Dale High School, she joined FFA and started showing lambs alongside the goats. Cotter\u2019s passion for animals and riding horses in particular continued to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was, and still is, a confident horse rider. She wanted to try her hand at barrel racing in high school. After practicing and honing her skills as a barrel racer, she and her parents went to a sale and picked out a trained, or patterned, barrel horse. She named the mare Cali, and the two have been inseparable ever since. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She competed in the International Youth Finals Rodeo each year of high school. She\u2019s won numerous local, national and international awards, including two Pinto World Champion titles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During her senior year of high school, she began applying to colleges with strong agricultural programs, including Kansas State University, Oklahoma State University and SSC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But just before her high school graduation, her grandmother suffered a stroke. Her grandmother was her neighbor, had watched over her as she grew up on her parent\u2019s farm in Shawnee. Cotter decided she would attend college close to home, so she could care for her grandmother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While a freshman studying agriculture at SSC, she was also her grandmother\u2019s full-time caretaker with help from her family. She never considered the situation to be a hindrance to her goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see it as an obstacle. It was an amazing opportunity. She took care of me when I was little and now I could take care of her and spend time with her. I spent every night there. It was a blessing,\u201d Cotter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the stroke, her grandmother could not speak or walk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew her so well. I knew what she was trying to convey without communication,\u201d Cotter said. She cherishes the time with her grandmother before she passed away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the emotional toll her grandmother\u2019s passing took on her, Cotter continued chasing her rodeo dreams. SSC does not have a college rodeo team, but Assistant Professor of Agriculture Wendy Rich did not want that to hamper Cotter\u2019s goals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cProfessor Rich said to me, \u2018You know you could do that as an independent, right?\u2019 So I started competing,\u201d Cotter said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has competed in five college rodeo events since she went independent. She wears an SSC patch on her vest as she barrel races. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m so glad I chose SSC,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cI\u2019m getting to do all the things I want. If you voice what you want to accomplish here, people will help you find a way to make it happen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her accomplishments are not limited to the rodeo arena. She served on SSC\u2019s first livestock judging team, she is an Ag ambassador, she\u2019s a member of the Aggie Club on campus, as well as a member in three honor societies: Phi Theta Kappa, Sigma Kappa Delta and Nu Alpha Theta. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She shared her experiences at SSC with the College\u2019s Board of Regents in the fall of 2019. President Lana Reynolds was so moved by her story that she asked Cotter to represent the College at Higher Ed Day at the State Capitol. Cotter was one of three students who addressed state leaders about the value of higher education. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When she graduates from SSC in the spring, she intends to transfer to OSU and enroll in their animal science\/pre-veterinary program. She hopes to become the fifth member of her family to complete the veterinary program in Stillwater, joining her mother, aunt and two cousins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been given so many opportunities at this college,\u201d Cotter said. \u201cSomewhere else, I would have been a number. Here, I\u2019ve been able to be a part of so much.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Some people mark time by the places they\u2019ve lived, by the vehicles they\u2019ve driven. Kimberly Cotter, a sophomore at Seminole State College, marks time by the horses she\u2019s owned.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I was three, my parents went to a miniature horse sale\u00a0for fun\u00a0\u2014\u00a0just something to do as a family. Well, they ended up buying some,\u201d Cotter … Continue reading Student Chases College Rodeo Dreams at SSC<\/span>