What is My Purpose?

When I think of my purpose of being here I think of a lot of things. The first thing that I can think of when I think "purpose" I think of playing IBA. I am a defending champion and not to brag, looking for my second ring this year. But, in all honestly i love athletics even if they are recreational. It is just fun playing sports and I am super competitive. The second thing that comes to mind, is being a son. You would have to ask my parents, but I feel like I have been just a swell son! I enjoy spending time with my parents, usually. I may be a little more rowdy than my parents were when they were in their prime, but I am the type to one up ya, so of course I must beat them out. I do try to be as helpful as I can and since this is my last year at home I am trying to make quality time with my family before I am out in the world all alone. They also teach me a lot. My dad is more of a hands on teaching me how to do things so that I wont have to pay people to fix things that I coincidentally broke.  He also holds me responsible to do a lot of things on my own so I am prepared. My mom on the other hand teaches me how to handle my responsibilities and money so that I can efficiently survive. Probably the thing that I take the most pride in is making my parents proud. You just get the best feeling ever when they tell you that they are proud of everything you've done. I always know that they will have my back whenever I am in trouble or need help.

Another purpose that I feel is important to me, is being a student. I take a lot of pride in being a good student. I have had good grades all my life, with the exception of college calculus, but I'm not even going to accept that as a part of my life. My student purpose at the moment is currently filling out scholarships to try and get every penny I can before college. I plan on going to a four year university and getting at least a bachelors degree, maybe even a masters if I am feeling ambitious. I hope to be going to The University of Nebraska at either Kearney or Lincoln. I'm honestly not sure what I want to go into as a major, but just going to college will be a fun and educational experience.

I hope to get a degree dealing with Agriculture and work with agriculture after I am done with schooling. My whole family has been in the agriculture business for as long as I have ever heard. My Uncle works for the Coop and I have been with him and think that it is a pretty sweet gig. And all the rest of the family farms, and I have worked for them, even though it was for family it was still good learning.  I just don't think the whole office and indoors all the time is what I want. I worked for the Aurora Cooperative this summer and I just loved being able to work outside, even in the bad weather.   I realize that agriculture is a large part of our economy and how Nebraska works. We have like the best opportunity in the country for growing crops, so it should be a good thing to be involved with. Another purpose that I think all people who are put on earth are supposed to fulfill is to start a family. I hope to someday be able to have a family in Aurora, or someplace similar. I am not about being a big city boy, so I would prefer to live in the country.

People don't know what they are there for in life until it is laid in front of them. You can't be totally for sure what your purpose is in life, it is a mystery. So, like most people of the world I am not sure at all what my life will turn out to be. Hopefully I will realize it when it happens. I think that my "plan" is something good that I wouldn't mind following. All I know now is that I am enjoying life and living it very close to its fullest!

Where Am I?

I have lived in Nebraska practically my whole life! I don't have any other place to call home, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We are the Cornhusker State. College football is a major part of the great state. The Huskers are about the only sports team we got in the whole state. Which may add to the factor of the most consecutive sellouts by like 100 games. I am a crazy Husker fan, and the stars must have aligned for them once I was born because they won a National Championship.I love living here out on the Great Plains, most people may think it is boring, but I sure make a good time out of it. I have family all across the state. Like most, I come from a long line of farmers. I think that is where I get my desire to be and work outside. I love helping my grandpa on the farm. I have made a lot of memories in rural Nebraska, and to be honest it is a lot of fun!

I am blessed to live in one of the nicest communities in the state! Aurora is where I have called my residence for about 15 years. My friends are awesome. I remember all the good times playing the infamous game of trampoline 21 with Cole and Alex. We may have been little but believe me things got rough, usually Cole starting a fight. Cole, Alex, and I lived in the same general region of town, so we were taking turns going to each others houses basically everyday. Another thing I remember is my neighbor, Tobey, always coming over for like a half hour max to eat our fudgesicles or tortilla chips. He was a little weasel. Our town does so much for us kids, the most recent and important to me is the funding of our new turf field. The field is one of the nicest in the state, and we got the pleasure of having it for our senior year. The people are just so generous and I believe that it is right to give back to the community whether you donate money or materials, or volunteer and do what you can to help others. That is why Aurora is so strong, everybody is friendly!

The Aurora school system is a great one. Most of the teachers are very nice and teach with passion. There are some really dumb things about our school that really bug me, but I will let them slide for the sake of this blog. Even though I would really rather be doing something else with my time, school is really important to me. I have always been a kid with good grades, and I am proud of that. I really haven't had to actually put in effort and try to learn and what not, until this year. I am taking a college calculus class and let me tell you, it is not a piece of cake. Now, some of my classmates may say that it is because of my in class habits. But, sleeping in class almost everyday is only partially the problem. I love football, that is about my only passion this year, I don't do much besides that. Our team was able to go 9-3 this year. it was a pretty good year even though we had a few bombshells and quite a few injuries. I wish Jacob could have played with us, not because he was good, but because he was an awesome teammate and an even better friend.

I have divorced parents so I live in two different places. I love both of them, they both have an outdoorsy taste to them. My brother and I cut down trees, go exploring through the woods, and sometimes just sit on logs. We both love to hunt and while we can shoot guns down there, it is just easier to trap. I have only set one trap last year because it was a loner and I happened to catch a fox with it. At my dads' house we are about working hard to play hard. We got so many four-wheelers, guns, games, a pool, a bobcat, and a freaking race car! We just got a nice variety of things. I love working on things with my dad, even though im not the best mechanic. My moms' house is on a sand pit so, I think it is easy to say that we have a lot of fun. My mom is a nurturing woman, and I am glad because she does everything for my brother and I.

I love where I am at and I don't know if I ever want to leave. This place is where I have developed my habits and it has made me who I am. If I do end up somewhere else in the future I hope that it is a place just like rural Nebraska.

Who Am I?

 

            I am Rick Schmidt. I was born on October 19, 1994 to Dick and Vonda Schmidt in Kearney, Nebraska. All of my family is from Blue Hill, Nebraska, home of the bobcats. My parents just got out of college at the time of my arrival, so you could say we were dirt poor. I spent the first two years of my amazing life in Kearney. Then my mom received a job offer in Washington, so we moved up there for about a year and a half before returning to the great state of Nebraska. My parents decided that they would settle in Aurora (good choice), where my brother was to be born.

My childhood is full of so many great memories, that I can't even remember a lot of them. I remember having a dirt hill in my back yard, which was huge, that my brother and I would always play king of the hill with the neighborhood kids. You can’t forget about worm hunting in it either! My dad built a huge garage beside our house and made a basketball course behind it where many brutal games were held. We would always put the trampoline under the hoop and play 21. Ben or Alex usually won, followed by myself, then in last, of course, Cole. I’m not going to lie, I miss being a little kid with not a worry in the world. But, being around friends has always been the main attraction with me. Life is just more fun when you are with people that have the same interests and do the same things as you. Now a day’s hanging out with my buddies is about all I do.

I have been hunting since I was a tyke, or at least going on hunts. My grandfather taught me the importance of being able to fend for yourself. He has been teaching me lessons since I can remember him. When I was about five years old he took me deer hunting with him, we sat in a stand all day waiting for a deer to cross our path. When one finally did he said a soft prayer and then took the animals life. He said it is important to thank God for what we are given, and I will never forget that day. When he was a kid they had to actually live off the land. If they missed, they went hungry. Now I am an avid hunter and I thank my grandfather for that.  I hunt just about everything there is and I would say it is one of the things in my life that I love the most alongside my family and football. When you go hunting you are usually by yourself and you can just relax and reminisce. Sports have always been a passion of mine since I was a youngster. I played it all, you name it, and I played it. I could be considered by many as a pure, raw talented athlete. A bunch of us have all been playing sports together since second grade flag football. Jacob really made himself a strong leader. He was the hardest working kid I have ever met. Not to mention he was a pretty good teammate and friend. I wish he was still here today to share his life with his friends, even though he is still a part of everyday life.

My family has probably been the biggest impact on my life. They raised me to fulfill certain values and be a good person. They got divorced when I was thirteen years old, and it hit me pretty hard. It is tough having your parents divorce at a delicate age. They want you to choose sides and all you want to do is stay the heck out of it. I really relied on my Uncle Brian to talk to. He is a fun dude and I am glad to have him in my life.

I am enjoying every minute that I have being young because if there is any sign of this year so far, the older you get the faster it flies by and I am definitely not ready for the end of this year. So, I believe this blog describes the aspects of my life and shows you who I really am. It is important to make sure you check yourself every now and then so you don’t forget who you actually are; no matter what you do you can’t change your roots. So, until next time, Beware of the Blog!