Senior, Aleah Higgs

Senior Aleah Higgs is a poised, thoughtful and articulate young woman. She seems wise beyond her years. One of the reasons might be the hard work she has put into excelling in the two main parts of her life: being an outstanding student and riding bucking horses. Both disciplines require dedication and she has given both her all. Now, looking to the future, she has a big decision to make as she heads off to college: To rodeo or not to rodeo? Aleah is a rodeo champion. We profiled this aspect of her life in an earlier issue of this magazine, last winter. Now, we turn to other aspects of Aleah’s life and what lies ahead.

Aleah was recently named one of five of Illinois State Scholars from Newton Community High School. This is an amazing achievement, requiring a 4.0 grade-point average for all of high school, top scores on the SAT and ACT, and taking the most challenging courses.

She has been able to balance both her studies and rodeo, but it’s a busy schedule and she’s not sure if the increased academic demands of college will allow her enough time for both. Currently, she spends a full day in school, then is off to ride horses until 5:00 or 6:00 PM before going home to shower, eat dinner, take a brief rest, do her homework, sleep and repeat.

She has already applied to, been accepted at, and offered some scholarships to several different schools. Aleah has divided her short list of colleges into two categories: “rodeo” (Fort Hayes, Kansas and Murray State in Kentucky) and “no rodeo” (Eastern Illinois University. and Southern Illinois University). She visited Murray State with her parents (a seven-hour round trip) and met with the head of their rodeo program. They shared videos of her competing and discussed the practical aspects of combining college studies and rodeo. Aleah found that really helpful. Aside from the rodeo question, she has to decide if she wants to be at a small school, close to home, with familiar faces or a bigger place that might be farther away and full of all new people. Smaller and closer feels safer and more comfortable. But she also considers that college can be an opportunity to explore new places and become more independent from family and friends so as to grow in new ways.

We are struck by how thoughtful and deliberative Aleah is about this decision. On the academic side of things, Aleah wants to get a bachelor’s degree in communication sciences and disorders, and then get a master’s in speech pathology and audiology. She was inspired to go into healthcare by her mother, who is a nurse. Her mom and sister (who also works in healthcare) set her up with opportunities to shadow professionals in various healthcare jobs. Aleah (who has “no stomach for blood”) ruled out a lot of traditional healthcare jobs, but was drawn to speech because it often involves working with children (and no blood).

We are impressed with the wonderful way Aleah’s family helped her to explore and assess options. Likewise, we compliment Aleah on being deliberative and thoughtful in making these big decisions. She is going through this process very authentically, being honest about her hopes and fears. This is the kind of honesty that will serve her well. Aleah reframes the basic question, saying: “In the back of my mind, there’s still my small hometown. I’ve grown up in it. I love the people around here and all this stuff, but at some point I need to figure out how to move out on my own and become my own person. It’s a hard decision.”

Two things we know for sure: Aleah has lots of great options, and whatever she decides to do, wherever she goes, this young woman will do great things. Whether she stays local and small town or goes big, she will bring her small-town values and upbringing with her. She is friendly and kind, saying, “I never know a stranger.” And she is always trying to be her best self, not only for her own benefit, but also to serve as a role model to younger kids. Aleah says, “I like to give them advice on how to do better.” She tries to live by her parents motto: “Make sure you are doing the right thing, because there is always a younger kid who is looking up to you.” She concludes, “I know because I was that kid.”