Caitlin Watson, an 18-year-old recent graduate of Eagle Butte High School, hopes young girls with self-esteem issues can see her as an inspiration to go after anything they're passionate about.--NEWS PHOTO SAMANTHA JOHNSON
By competing in the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede’s Royalty Competition, Caitlin Watson hopes to inspire younger girls who might lack self-confidence.
“I’m not a size two,” said Caitlin, but she hopes seeing her in the competition might change how they think and feel about themselves.
Eighteen-year-old Watson is one of three contestants in the 2022 Rodeo Royalty competition, running Wednesday through Saturday this week. Events open to the public include Horsemanship (Thursday, 7 p.m. at the grandstand), Public Speaking (Friday, 6 p.m. at the Cypress Centre) and Fashion Show (Saturday, 2 p.m. at the Cypress Centre).
Riding since she was 13, Watson has always liked rodeo and horses. Participating in a rodeo wasn’t important to her, but she enjoyed helping out in other ways, such as at the Pioneer Village.
One of her two current jobs is working at Midnight’s Trail. She also cooks at the Redcliff Legion and, in the winter, will work with the skating club to teach young children how to skate. If she wins the competition, she is hoping everything will balance out. She has already spoken to her employers, and they are willing to give her as much time off as she needs.
With money already put away for a college fund, the jobs are more about doing what she loves and having some extra spending money. Volunteering is also very important, and Watson is fulfilled by helping out. Giving back to her community is also a key motivator for her, along with helping those who have helped her.
Watson graduated from Eagle Butte High School in 2021. While the last two years during the pandemic were hard, Watson feels it is important to adjust to circumstances as needed. She has been accepted at Medicine Hat College into the criminal justice program and will be staring in September. This last year was about upgrading and taking courses she needed to get into the program. With an undecided career path – perhaps the police service or maybe security, maybe even getting into pre-law – she is happy to keep her options open at this point.
While she never participated in 4H, Watson took the Cow and Calf Green Certificate through Eagle Butte. She explained the certificate taught the students how to start their own cattle operation and felt she learned lots about different attitudes of the animals and the breeding behaviour of cows.
The public speaking portion of the competition caused Watson some nervousness when she first registered.
“I’ve been working on it and getting more confident,” Watson said. While she’s done public speaking for the skating club and at Midnight’s Trail, she understands it’s different when giving a speech and has been practising doing so in front of others.
With her self-confidence increasing, Watson feels ready for all aspects of the competition.
“Lots of people right now are banding together to help me out with all this,” she said. “There is no way I could have done it alone.”
