Charli Roberts
Charli Roberts is a Sophomore at Eureka High. She is ingrained in livestock and has won many national shows. Charli's competed with people from California to Ohio and has won. She currently wants to go somewhere like Texas Tech and learn agriculture.
What do you want to do with your life? Like jobs, Interns(?)...
Okay, so, like, from high school on?...
Sure
So, I want to graduate college, er, I want to graduate high school...
Okay
...and go to a four year university, probably somewhere back East like [Texas Tech] or somewhere, cause, I’m from a livestock background, so, I’ve always been involved in the agriculture industry, and they have good livestock back there and programs, so I want to do something toward that and be an ag teacher or a livestock judging coach.
Would one of those ambitions be to own a farm or something, er…?
Probably, and then, I mean, I’ve always (you probably don’t know what this is, but!) my dream has always been intern um… uh… one of the biggest cattle companies back there, so I have a feeling that if I look up to that then I can eventually be at that level that they are right now.
Okay, cool… Um… Why do you want to do that and what are you doing to work towards that goal?
So, I mean, I’ve basically what I already said, but I want to do that because I’ve always been a part of it and I’ve grown up in it. And… I feel like… I have so much knowledge right now and I can get so much even, like, working towards that. And I think to work towards that, I will just start at this low level, and then make it up to the… um… the big outfit breeders or… I don’t know. I think… Right now I’m starting to go to national shows and stuff, and I feel like making the connections that I’ve made are making me go toward my dream job.
Um-hum… So mostly just like connections…
yeah…
Uhh… Who is someone who has influenced you the most?
Umm… I kind of feel petty for saying this, but instead of my family members, it is a guy that has a goat farm in West Virginia. His name is Pat Awood (?) and he’s been the most impactful on me because one day I called him and he gave me a goat and I took that goat to nations, she won, and he supported me from there.
Wow…
And he knew that, if I could do that, he was going to help me every step of the way and he’s been an impact to my whole family and myself and… I feel like someone like that is a connection you will always have and someone that you will want to keep in your life.
How’d you meet this… guy?
I met this guy when I went to Kentucky at a goat sale and I walked up to him and asked him a few questions and by the time I left, he had my phone number, and from there on we were friends.
Okay, nice. Umm… What do you think is your biggest accomplishment?
My biggest accomplishment? Umm… I feel like I have a lot because in the livestock industry, there’s a lot of things and it’s hard with so many good [peers] out there that, you kind of have to work for, especially being in Humboldt County, you really have to work towards it and I feel like my biggest accomplishment was… Last year, it was February, and I went to a jackpot in Mercedes, and, I was in the Grand Drive which was pretty cool ‘cause I was in the Grand Drive with 10 other kids from Ohio, and, I just remember the judge walking up to me and he gave me the Champion Slap and I was just, like, balling in tears, and that was pretty cool, so… It was pretty cool for my family ‘cause we breed that hog (?)
That must have been pretty impactful…
Yeah…
Umm… What do you think your biggest challenge due to COVID was?
For COVID?
Yeah.
Umm… I feel like my biggest challenge was… we were able to drive places and go to shows and everything, but especially last year, that was the start to… to starting to go to nationals shows, and I got the internship to start fitting for a big cattle breeding company back East, and, I couldn’t do that because they were supposed to fly me out and we couldn’t fly…
Okay…
So, some of the times we had to drive all the way out there and some of the times I missed some of the shows that would have been my one and only chance to do that. So, that was probably the hardest challenge in COVID.
Yeah, I’m sorry.
It’s fine. I mean, it’s happening now, so…
Right…
Yeah, so it’s still… And hopefully COVID doesn’t pick up again…
Yeah…