Morningside Connect

Morningside College is home to many students with diverse hobbies and interests. The college has students that have passion for ceramics, writing novels, sports, farming, and medical care. They all come together here – sharing experiences and passions while learning.

Student Garrett Wall shares his passion with Morningside College. He gets up and travels to various towns in the Midwest for rodeos. And he doesn’t just watch them; he rides in them.

Wall rides bulls, ropes calves, and gets on bucking horses.

“When you ride bulls, they say it’s 85-90 percent mental and the other is physical. You’ve got to be 100 percent,” said Wall. “It’s a goal that never ends; you can always do better. There is no such thing as a perfect ride on a bull. You could have always done a little bit better and you can always work on something, and you can always strive to be better.”

Last year he was the Iowa Rodeo Cowboys Association (IRCA) Reserve Champion, and he won the IRCA Finals.

“I have been going to rodeos for as long as I can remember,” said Wall. “When I was really little, I would go to pro rodeos with my mom and dad.”

Wall’s dad ropes calves, and in his younger years, he rode bulls and bareback horses. He rode professionally for around 20 years.

“I was pretty good at riding horses by the time I was seven or eight years old,” said Wall. “I could rope pretty decent by the time I was twelve. I probably got on my first bull when I was about ten years old.”

Rodeo season goes from mid-May into parts of August, making Wall’s summer packed with rodeos. He’s at around three different shows a weekend.

“It’s a lifestyle,” said Wall. “The people are great. Everyone is the kind of person that would give their shirt off their back for you.”

He even gets on a few bulls during the winter. However, his school schedule limits his time dedicated to riding bulls. Besides riding in rodeos, Wall also is a middle distance runner on the Morningside College track team. He is working towards a degree in agriculture with a minor in biology. He doesn’t know for sure what he wants to do after college. He might go work for a co-op but his dream would be to ride bulls professionally. His goal for this year is to win the IRCA Finals and try to make the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Finals.