My name is Michael Hayes. I am currently a junior at  Valdosta State University.   I am majoring in Early Childhood Education  because I think that working with children will be very rewarding.  I also think it will be exciting to encourage creativity and help childern to discover the things they are good at and develop skill in other areas that they may need extra help in understanding.
     Some of the things I have always enjoyed have been working with animals.  Naturally, horses were one of the first animals that I gravitated to and began to learn about.  One of my favorite magazines has been Western Horseman for a long time.  I also worked for a time at the Latigo Ranch, a family-oriented working guest ranch were I learned even more about horses.  I also spent a summer working at Melhana, the Grand Plantation in Thomasville, GA, working as a carriage driver and taking care of the horses there.