Katherine Merck finished a whirlwind year as Miss Rodeo America in December and has since returned to Gonzaga Law School. Before that, she represented rodeos in her home state as Miss Rodeo Washington. In this month’s Role Model, she looks back on her time as rodeo royalty and why it meant so much to her.

What were the highlights of your time as Miss Rodeo Washington? 

While I was Miss Rodeo Washington, I traveled to 13 different states and Canada to promote our Washington rodeos. I am actually the first Miss Rodeo Washington to be crowned Miss Rodeo America, so that was really exciting for all of us involved in the program.

What was it like to compete for the Miss Rodeo America crown?

The Miss Rodeo America pageant is actually eight days long. We were fully sequestered so no technology, no talking to the outside world.

There is an extensive interview process—public speaking, current event questions, a fashion show where we showcase Western trends and Miss Rodeo America sponsors.

Our talent is horsemanship; we ride two different horses that we’ve never been on. We’re not allowed to warm up at all in the competition. And we also take a written examination on equine science, rodeo knowledge and rodeo history.

It was quite a lot of preparation. I worked a lot on getting on every horse I could. I did a lot of equine science work with my personal vet, Dr. Jed McKinlay. There’s nothing better than following a vet around to learn equine science. And I actually audio-recorded my study guides so I could listen to them while driving from rodeo to rodeo.

A lot of it came down to being out and being involved in the rodeo. Being there and being with the people involved is the best way to learn hands-on.

It’s a lot of preparation and then outfits. I had 28 different outfits for the eight days.

I enlisted the help of Spokane community members and had them interview me—just a lot of public speaking, so I could get through all of my nerves. You’re always going to be given a question you don’t know, so it’s all about how you handle it.

Describe the moment you won the crown.

I was so incredibly excited to be in the top five, but when that moment came to answer my questions, that was probably the most calm I had been in the entire competition because I knew I had given my all the entire week. I was thankful to be asked a question that I am passionate about: The future of rodeo. I let instinct take over.

I was dazed and amazed that I won. I didn’t even know what to do, it was so incredible.

How did you answer that final question?

Rodeo has been experiencing positive growth but still has challenges. One of the big challenges we have in our industry is open communication. It’s a big community spread all over the country. But also keeping those lines of communication open with the public. Continuing to educate people about what we stand for as a community.

Rodeo is the only sport in which we help our friends beat ourselves. One of the biggest things we do in rodeo is support our friends and do everything we can to help one another succeed even if it means they beat us.

We are now co-sanctioning rodeos in Mexico. We were already co-sanctioning in Canada. So, that unifies the sport across North America.

What, exactly, is expected of rodeo royalty?

It’s the best job in the world. I traveled more than 120,000 miles and all the way to Australia. A lot of rodeo appearances and a lot of public appearances to promote rodeos. I had the opportunity to walk the red carpet at the Academy of Country Music Awards, as well.

I had a lot of opportunity to be home in the northwest and attend lots of our Washington rodeos. So much of what Miss Rodeo America does is promotional, so promotion and marketing, so I visited schools and gave talks, as well.

How has the transition back to “normal” felt? 

I am in my final year at Gonzaga Law, so I’ll actually graduate in December because I took a year and a half off to compete for Miss Rodeo America while I was Miss Rodeo Washington.

Miss Rodeo America has a scholarship that’s paid for me to finish law school, so I’m actually graduating debt free because I took that time off to serve as Miss Rodeo America.

The reason I even started in law school is I plan to work in agriculture, so I’m doing estate planning in farming, in agriculture and land use.

So many people in the rodeo culture come from an agricultural background. So it really is the same group of people. It all ties together better than it does when it first meets the eye.

Why are you so passionate about promoting the rodeo?

One of the biggest values is community and family. Rodeo community is 100 percent why I feel people who do rodeo get sucked in. We are focused as a community on patriotism. We value hard work.

A contestant’s performance in the arena is just as important as how they are out of the arena. Respect [for] other people. Respect for elders and respect for animals. We treat animals in rodeo as our partners and that’s incredibly important.

I don’t think I have ever been at any kind of event that is more respectful of the national anthem or where everyone can come together in prayer like we do at a rodeo.