It could be said that Jason Horton was born to be a college agriculture professor. While he was raised in the Mississippi Delta, a long way from the vast openness of Big Sky country or the Bighorn Basin, teaching and agriculture were pillars of the Horton family, and Jason now combines both as Associate Professor of Agribusiness at 皇家华人.
Growing up in Cleveland, Mississippi, Jason鈥檚 mother taught English and literature at Delta State University for more than 30 years and his father owned and operated the well-known Big River Grain. With that type of family influence, it鈥檚 no surprise that Jason鈥檚 career path was a merger of sorts. He started by earning a BS in Agribusiness from Mississippi State University in 1998, and a MA in Agribusiness Management from MSU before spending 10 years as an agent with the Farm Bureau.
However, there came a point when Jason realized he didn鈥檛 want to do that for the rest of his life and started to think about teaching instead. With a possible career change in the works, it was Jason鈥檚 wife who discovered the perfect place where that could happen.
鈥淪he came in one day and said look what I found on Google. It was a job description for 皇家华人. So we looked at it, thought about it, and the next thing you know, we were out here interviewing and decided to take it. This is home now, and I鈥檝e never looked back.鈥�
Jason鈥檚 teaching career at NWC began in 2010 and includes a role as faculty advisor to the school鈥檚 Block and Bridle Club, a chapter of the national fraternity in the field of animal husbandry. It was one of the drawing points for Jason, who鈥檇 been vice president of the Block & Bridle Club as a student at Mississippi State, and one of the many things he finds appealing at NWC. Living on 196 acres outside of town, he鈥檚 embraced the Wyoming lifestyle and the time he has to enjoy hiking, hunting, and camping with his family or coaching baseball.
鈥淚 love teaching at a community college. We have smaller classes and I鈥檓 here to teach, not do research or get published. I get to know all my students and spend more time with them. I wouldn鈥檛 like teaching at a larger university where you have a class of 300 students.鈥�