Rancher’s Life: Nick Cummings

Photo courtesy of Nick Cummings. Copyright Red Cloud Indian School.

 

Rancher’s Life: Nick Cummings

                                                   By Jin Yup Jung ‘14

It could be seen weird that students would rather work as ranchers than be college students these days. While college students enjoy their college life, there is a young man who was determined to be a rancher right after he graduated from high school.

Nick Cummings is an alumni from Red Cloud High School and he graduated in 2012. I had an early interview with Nick Cummings a few days ago and heard so many interesting things about his daily job. “My daily life is- I wake up every morning, feed cows, and right now we’re in the middle of calving so you have to check cows everyday and make sure they aren’t having problems having their calf,” Cummings said. “Depending on the weather and age of the cow sometimes, you have to check through the night.”  

During his senior year in Red Cloud, some students told him that he would regret his choice to be a rancher because it doesn’t make sense giving up college life to be a rancher. However, Cummings has enjoyed doing his job and there is specific purpose for him to be a rancher. “I love what I do, not because it’s about the money. It’s about the sense of pride that ranching brings,” Cummings said. “There are not a lot of things in life that can make you feel the way ranching does. All in one day you can go through a roller coaster of emotion, like you can save a calf's life and a few minutes later you can watch one take its last breath. It’s things like that that teach a person to be humble and how to accept problems in life.”

Also, Cummings is proud of himself to be a rancher. “I’m a rancher because that’s who I am. 12 years of education was more than enough for me,” Cummings said. “ I chose ranch rather than go to school because I have a family name to carry on. It’s not that I felt it was my duty to carry that name on but more so that that’s what I’m supposed to do with my life.”

“Ranching ain’t just what I do, it’s who I am,” Cummings said.