Hello Future Mustangs!
My name
is Tatum Larson, and I am four semester tests from being half way through my
senior year at SMSU! (WHOO HOO!) I’m from Canton, SD and I’m majoring in
biology. I say that confidently now but this has not always been the case. My
journey here has been full of many ups and downs and crazy turns along the way.
You may
be asking yourself, “How did you end up at SMSU, Tatum?” That’s a great
question, future mustang! As a senior in high school I didn’t care about much
besides sports and having fun. I was not stressing out a whole lot about
choosing a college until the end of basketball season in February when my
parents kind of got on my tail about it. I made a list of schools I wanted to
visit. That list included Winona State University, South Dakota State
University, and University of Minnesota-Morris. I visited all of these schools
and none of them really seemed to fit. My parents were kind of getting
impatient with me at this point. My dad had finally mentioned Southwest
Minnesota State University where my cousin played football. I looked it up
online and thought why not give it a shot. I scheduled a visit and talked with
an admission counselor first. They asked me what my interests were as far as a
major went, and I told them exercise science and animal science. They informed
me that they had an exercise science program but not an animal science program.
As I went on tour, my tour guide explained the exercise science program in more
detail, and I actually got a chance to speak with Professor Jeffers who is an
exercise science professor. He basically sold me on the program and the school;
I was set on becoming a mustang. To make this choice even more perfect, I
received a call in late July about a month before school was to start. It was a
phone number I did not know. Turns out, it was Coach Nate Wolf who was just
hired by SMSU to be the new head Cross Country coach. He asked me if I would be
interested in running for him and he could barely finish his sentence before I
was already saying yes. This was the cherry on top, and it was at this point
that I realized this is definitely where I belong.
As a
freshmen, I was enrolled in most of my general courses to get those out of the
way. It wasn’t until my sophomore year fall semester that I got into my
exercise science major, taking classes like Kinesiology and Nutrition. I found
these classes extremely interesting but I started to question what I truly
wanted to do with my major. Second semester of my sophomore year I was enrolled
in Exercise Physiology and Nutrition & Exercise, which I also found
interesting considering they apply so much to running, yet I still wasn’t sold.
I decided to explore some options and started to realize that I really do see
myself working in the animal science field. I had grown up on a ranch raising
horses and cows, and I discovered that animal health was a big passion of mine.
Since SMSU does not have this particular program, I started to become very
frustrated on what I wanted to do. I knew I didn’t want to transfer because I
didn’t want to leave my team and friends that I had made. I met up with my
advisor who was Dr. Kris Cleveland at the time. She directed me to talk to
Professor Gehle about some possible options related to a biology degree. After
talking with Dr. Gehle, I knew that this was going to be the best decision for
me. I decided that with my biology degree I will either go into bovine
reproduction/embryology or go on to veterinary school.
So junior year, I was enrolled in
my biology major courses. Even though I struggled through Organic Chemistry, I
knew I had made the right decision. Toward the end of my junior year, I started
getting the question from family and friends, “So Tatum, what are you for sure
going to do with this biology degree of yours? Medical School?” Until about 3
weeks ago, my answer was always “I’m not 100% sure yet. I’ll cross that bridge
when I get there.” (My parents did not like this response!) Now, I can tell
everyone that I accepted a yearlong internship position outside of Loveland,
CO. I will be working for a company called International Bovine Training
Solutions under a veterinarian by the name of Dr. Kevin McSweeney. I will be
learning all about bovine reproduction, ultrasound, embryo transfer and overall
cattle health. I can’t wait for this new adventure, and I have SMSU to thank
for getting me to this point! The overall message I want you to take from this
is that you don’t have to have it all together when you come to college. SMSU
provides unique opportunities and great faculty to direct you to the path that
is perfect for you.
Stay Classy Mustangs,
Tatum Larson
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