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Following Dreams And Getting A College Education: Taking A Longer Path

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Tuesday June 19, 2012

By Cookie Steponaitis

     Heather Winters points to the calendar and a date circled in red. It is May 2013 and she is looking forward to her college graduation with great excitement and relief. For Heather, like many Vermonters the cost of a college education has precluded her from following her dreams as quickly as she would have liked, but undaunted she has persevered and taken some classes here and there until the end of the line is finally in view.

     Heather was a sophomore in high school when her passion for horses and her plans for the future overlapped. An avid rider since the age of six, Heather had always wanted a companion, a confidant and partner to grow with in skill and love. In the middle of that year in high school, Heather’s family grew to include Zane; a 16.3 Appaloosa/Percheron cross horse and the partnership formed the basis for a Bachelors Degree in Equine Studies.

    Heather graduated with her class in 2005 and went directly to college at SUNY Cobbleskill spending her first two and a half years on track and following the path of thousands of other high school graduates. When costs prohibited her from attending full time, Heather began to increase her outside job to full time and decrease her college attendance to part-time, but always kept her eye on the dream and moving forward. “You really have to see your dreams as valuable,” shared Heather, “and see yourself at the end of the process. Even if you can only take one class one semester, take it and move on, keeping toward your goal. I even find that I know so much more about myself now at 25 than I did fresh out of high school. It means so much more to me now.”

    Over the years Zane and Heather have worked together to show, train and ride in a variety of venues, but always Heather has been focused on her work with Therapeutic Riding and bringing the joy of horses to those who do not live in a place like Vermont or can no find a way to have horses in their lives. Working full time outside of college, Heather still balances her responsibilities with her horse and school work as she moves ever closer to her dream being completed.

    With the economy tight, money even tighter and the cost of college skyrocketing, the Valley Voice wants to salute Heather and all Vermonters who find their path to a higher education daunting, and not without challenge, but who persevere and keep alive their belief in themselves and in the reason to go on for further schooling. “The B.S. In Equine Studies will be a milestone,” commented Heather, “but it is really just the beginning. My goal is my own barn, lessons, riding programs and to work with all populations to who horses can be a blessing, a comfort and a friend for life.”

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