Though cowboys are certainly easy to make fun of, their lifestyle is more than admirable and promotes more wholesome values than suburban life. While walking down the halls you are bound to notice some people listening to country music in their cowboy boots, hats and button-up flannel shirts. It is natural to question why these people are wearing those clothes and many mock them. However, most of the people who mock them don’t really understand what it means to live a country life.
Arapahoe High School is about as suburban as a school can get. Everywhere you look, there are students playing games on iPods, talking about Facebook posts and discussing the latest TV shows and video games, in other words, leading the classic life of a suburban teenager.
Many Arapahoe students do not know that teens in rural areas often have a very different definition of fun. In rural areas shooting, hiking, hunting and fishing are just a few of the many activities that are more available to rural teens. This is generally why video games and other electronic diversions are less prominently used in these areas. Even though electronics are almost as readily available as in cities, rural teens have other stuff to do.
I personally think the cowboy lifestyle is, as a whole, a great way to live. Cowboys are some of the hardest-working people out there and usually live a life based on family loyalty and wholesome values.
For me, rural life means standing up for what you believe in and not compromising on your ethics. Country life is filled with hard work and determination; it builds character and forms good people. I find that most rural people are amazingly kind and helpful.
For example, I was recently in Laramie, Wyoming and experienced the difference between people in that town versus in the city. There the people were more polite and actually seemed to care about outsiders. I also visited the University of Wyoming and noticed that the admissions people were all Wyoming natives and much more welcoming than at other colleges I have visited.
One reason for their good nature is their humble work ethic. Imagine waking up at 5:30 a.m., getting dressed and beginning a long day of work, whether it is on a ranch, farm, in a rodeo or somewhere else. They work hard from dawn until dusk and often actually enjoy the hard work they do.
The only rest they get is when they come home at night to a wife and kids and on Sundays when they have fun and spend extra time with their family. This is what it is like to live the cowboy life.
I would personally recommend the rural lifestyle because it will make you into a better person and teaches the importance of work hard. Experiencing the country life will change both most people’s point of view on rural life and the way people prioritize their lives to put God, family and friends above all else. Money and possessions will seem less valuable, although country folks do love their trucks and tractors.
In the words of the Zac Brown Band, the important thing to remember is that being a cowboy is not about where you live, or what you drive, or the price-tag on your clothes, it is who you are.