As I shared in my last article, Maleigha is getting ready for the Iowa Horse Fair Cowgirl Queen Contest the weekend of the 24th-26th. One of the pieces of this queen contest is an equine knowledge test. Last week we were reviewing her results from last year, and she scored 23 out of 50. Definitely not great! It was so interesting to see how much her knowledge has grown over the past year, and I can’t wait to see how she does on the test this year. There are a couple of reasons she has learned so much this past year. One is that she has an amazing teacher who loves to share all kinds of different horse facts with the kids. Two, she has worked hard on learning everything she can - asking lots of questions, and taking advantage of every field trip and every expert she is exposed to in order to expand her knowledge.
One of the things I love the most about our culture is the freedom to ask questions and seek information. I believe this is truly unique to us at ISH and allows for us to continue to grow and develop together. We may not always agree on the answers, but we definitely have the freedom to ask the questions. One of my favorite stories lately has been about meeting Autumn Van Dyke. I had seen her multiple times passing by my office, but went down to the clinic to introduce myself and meet her. She immediately shared she had a few questions for me. I absolutely love that in the short time she had worked here that she not only understood the culture and knew she had the freedom to ask questions, but also was comfortable enough to do so. There is a lot going on in healthcare right now, and I encourage you to seek out information. If you have questions or concerns, seek answers and expand your knowledge. It is much more dangerous to sit back and make assumptions than it is to seek knowledge and find answers, and the difference in these two paths is up to you. Choose wisely!
