Kim McClelland changed her major six times, went to four different schools, including EvCC and never actually received any official degree. Hopefully most of us will find our niche, but as a young adult it can be confusing deciding what to do with the rest of your life. However, it’s important to remember everything will turn out and Kim is a perfect example of this. After years of college she was drawn back to the passion she held as a child. Then went on to become an inspirational trainer and teacher, and the things she learned in college she still uses every day.

Kim has always had an independent and willing attitude in life. As a girl she grew up in Texas working her grandparent’s ranch on the weekend. One of her youngest memories is her dad saying, “If you can’t saddle it, you shouldn’t be riding it.” So she would put her saddle on a fence, put a step stool about two feet away, walk her horse in between and then drag the saddle over top of him by stepping on the stool.

During the week she took to a more entrepreneurial approach to life by selling her dads office supplies for extra lunch money. She would also occasionally get into a bit of trouble for sneaking into her grandma’s garden to take and sell her roses. Needless to say she was a bit of a trouble maker.

After growing up in Texas, Washington was a major change in her life. It was her senior year of high school when she experienced the great, as she described it, “culture shock” of moving away from Texas. She realized that Texas was like its own nation and that Washington was much different.

Due to the difference in worlds when she got out of high school she felt very conflicted on her next step. “It was assumed in Texas as a girl you either go to college or get married,” said Kim and to school she went. She started at Bellevue, then studied at EvCC for a year, then to Edmonds community colleges and finally online schooling.

Every college she attended, she met with an advisor and made her plan but could never stick to it. “I was just bad at learning what people thought I should learn. So I did my own thing,” said Kim. She studied computer science, marketing, psychology, counseling and human services (which was terrible in her humble opinion), visual communications and finally ecommerce.

When a friend dragged her to a Greg Eliel horse training clinic her path was revealed. She decided she wanted to pursue her passion in horses and spent the next 10 years doing clinics under Greg. In 2005 she opened her own business under the name 5 Star Horsemanship and has been training horses and giving lessons ever since.

Even though her career does not require a degree she uses her knowledge every day to better her business. For example, her studies in psychology, from EvCC, made her a better teacher and helped her to understand learning styles better. Her student, Kristen Mandich, says, “She is able to tap into my learning style and not only able to make me a better rider but makes me a better teacher to.”

Kim McClelland never officially received a degree but she does not regret a single day spent in college. It is important to follow your own plan and what you think will benefit you. She says, “Everything I took was worth my time.”