After a long day at school, students rush home to make sure their animals are fed and taken care of. The sun sets as they head inside, only to stay up late working on homework. All the hard work eventually pays off as they receive their banner and hear the click of a camera after a show.

Canyon High School students participated in the Randall County Junior Livestock Show Jan. 8-15, marking the beginning of their showing season. Sophomore Cash Miller, who has been showing cattle since he was in the third grade, said there are a variety of animals for students to show and raise.

“If you raise them [animals], then you’ll have them as babies,” Miller said. “You’ll feed them until they’re about a year old and then that’s when you can start showing them. You can show them until they are about a year old. Then, they become cows and you continue to raise more with that.”

Although sophomore Gracie Cox did not start showing goats until she moved to Canyon five years ago, her dad showed steers and pigs while he was in high school.

“When he showed, he enjoyed it as much as we do now,” said Cox. “I look up to him because of how involved he is in the agricultural industry. He never complains about working hard or helping out. I want to be like that.”

Cox said there is a lot of work that goes into preparing the goats, but the experience gained has prepared her for life.

“I think it has taught me that when I’m an adult — I’m not just going to get handed a job,” Cox said. “I’m going to have to work for it.”

When Cox is not in front of judges she said she is in the barn making memories with the other exhibitors.

“When we’re at major stock shows, there’s a lot of downtime when we’re not showing,” Cox said. “I like getting to come together. The whole industry is close, everyone is friendly and we all help each other out.” 

Senior Sunny Cowley has worked to raise goats all of her life and has been showing since the third grade. Cowley won Grand Champion and Reserved Grand Champion with her goats at the Randall County Junior Livestock Show. 

“I raise all the goats that I show,” Cowley said. “My parents started raising them when I was born, so I was kind of born into it. My whole family is involved. We all have something in common: a drive to win and do good.”

Cowley said she likes showing because she has her family there to support her. 

“When I do a competition through 4-H, my mom will always try to be there,” Cowley said. “She’s always pushing me to do my best. My dad’s the backbone of everything else. He has a full-time job, comes home, works and still helps feed all the animals.”

Even though she spends hours a day working with her animals, Cowley said sometimes it is too much added responsibility on top of everything else required of her.

“There have been times when I’m sluggish, and I don’t do anything,” Cowley said. “I procrastinate, but then there are days when I’m working and getting things done. I’ve learned that nothing in life is going to be handed to you. You have to work for what you want.”

Senior year is the last opportunity for exhibitors to show livestock, but Cowley said the friendships she has built over the years are still going to continue, and she will still attend events to support her sister and friends.

“I’ll be sad because I won’t be around everybody,” Cowley said. “I’ll miss the people more than actually being able to compete. I’ll miss being able to show with my sister, but she’s excited for me to leave so she can get all the good goats.”

Cowley said that while she has gained many different life lessons and skills over the years, it was never about the recognition or awards but about the people. In college, Cowley plans to major in animal science and minor in political science.

“My identity doesn’t rely on materialistic things,” Cowley said. “It relies on my faith. The banners and the buckles — I’m not going to take them to college. I started learning that the people you’ve met, the connections, that’s what truly matters. I’m doing this to impact people’s lives by trying to be there, have a smile on my face and interact with people.”