Southern Arkansas University student named as outstanding student in the department of agriculture
MAGNOLIA —Amanda Hayes Watson of Emerson, has been voted Southern Arkansas University’s outstanding student in the department of agriculture for 2007-2008 as well as the outstanding student in the College of Science and Technology.
Watson, who graduated with an agriculture science degree from Southern Arkansas University on May 9, has her sights on becoming a veterinarian. She has applied for entry in several highly competitive programs and hopes to be enrolled in a school by fall 2009.
“I have wanted to become a vet as far back as I can remember,” she said. “I guess it comes from growing up on a farm. We had everything from exotic (animals) to the ordinary.”
Watson, a 2004 Emerson High School graduate, said she has fond memories of all the vets in Magnolia allowing her to be their “assistant” when they came for house calls for one of the families many animals.
“I was a curious little kid and then I grew to love it,” she said. “I want to work on both big animals and small animals, but I will specialize in working with small animals.”
When she wasn’t in class or studying to make herself a standout in the agriculture and science program at SAU, Watson participated and placed in pageants including the University pageant and Miss Teen Arkansas International. She also has several World Championship honors under her belt for showing paint horses on the national level. One of her current hobbies is assisting autistic children who benefit from horseback riding lessons.
Watson and her husband, Thomas Watson, also of Emerson and a 2007 graduate of SAU, will celebrate their one year wedding anniversary on May 29.
