She may be rodeo royalty, but Julie Timmerman doesn’t let the status go to her head. The Burwell native is too busy focusing on a prize bigger than any crown she could ever win – a quality education.
Timmerman, 21, is Crawford’s reigning Old West Trail Rodeo queen. She is also a student at Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte where she competes on the MPCC rodeo team. Timmerman credits her crown, MPCC and rodeo with helping her achieve her career goal of becoming a veterinarian.
“They go hand in hand and have done a great job of preparing me for the real world,” said Timmerman.
She said the college has taught her the importance of hard work, rodeo competition instilled the values of perseverance and self-discipline and rodeo queen contests sharpened her public speaking and interview skills.
“I’m definitely a lot more confident than I was before I started trying out for queen contests,” said Timmerman. “I feel like I’ve grown up a lot.”
Timmerman’s love of rodeo dates back to fourth grade when her mother bought her a horse.
“I’ve always loved going fast on a horse,” said Timmerman. “There’s a freedom to it.”
Subsequent participation in 4-H and high school rodeo fueled the interest.
“I competed in pole bending, barrel racing and goat tying for four years and tried for the Nebraska High School Rodeo queen title my junior year,” said Timmerman. “I knew I couldn’t leave all that behind when it came time for college.”
She began looking for schools that offered rodeo and narrowed her selections down to two.
“It was between MPCC and Torrington,” said Timmerman. “The MPCC rodeo team was just starting up, and I was excited about the idea of being part of that. I’m glad I chose MPCC. The instructors are excellent, are always available outside of class and are very flexible with my rodeo schedule.”
Timmerman represents the college in barrel racing and goat tying. The rodeo queen aspect has helped fund her education. She plans to graduate this spring with an Associate of Science degree from MPCC and transfer to Chadron State College next fall.
“I got a one-year, full-tuition scholarship to Chadron State College for winning the queen title,” said Timmerman. “So, after I leave Mid-Plains I will take my pre-vet classes at CSC. MPCC and CSC have a great working relationship, which makes it really easy to transfer credits.”
When she’s not studying, competing in rodeo or fulfilling her queen duties, Timmerman is gaining on-the-job experience working at the Sjeklocha Veterinary Clinic in North Platte.
Timmerman hopes to eventually open her own practice in rural Nebraska, possibly back in Burwell. Her dream is to become an equine and bovine specialist and serve as an on-call vet for area rodeos.