Fossil Ridge High School’s very own Ava Hovland is a soon to be graduate. But most importantly, soon to be Cowgirl. A University of Wyoming cowgirl, specifically.

Hovland plans to major in business and minor in hospitality; Thus, giving her the opportunity to one day pursue a career in event planning or general entrepreneurship. An end goal Hovland would like to achieve would ideally be to work in wedding planning or interior designing. 

Hovland’s search for the perfect college fit took her on an unexpected ride of surprises and change. Hovland was dead set on college in the south, always thinking for sure that would be destined in her future. Before going on to tour six different schools in the south, she ended up touring the University of Wyoming—her parents thought she should just check it out for future reference. With low hopes and little interest in the school, she toured Wyoming, and as the tour went on, she found herself really enjoying what she was seeing. Hovland left the tour feeling extremely surprised at how happy she was with the family like environment that Wyoming had to offer, but still looking forward to checking out what the south had in store. 

Hovland went on to tour six different schools, including Arkansas University, Oklahoma State University, Oklahoma University, University of Missouri, and finally, Kansas State University. Hovland realized as she toured the campuses, “They were all very nice but every little thing I didn’t like about them, Wyoming had. To my surprise, none of them could compare.” 

Hovland applied to the University of Wyoming and within a matter of a few short days, she received her letter of acceptance. Right now, Hovland is feeling anticipation as her life will be undergoing big changes soon and she will take on a brand new phase of life. She describes her feelings about going into college as a little scared and intimidated to move to a whole new place, since she was born and raised in Fort Collins. But of course her feelings of excitement trump the worries, and she cannot wait to experience college while discovering a new place. 

Hovland is most excited for the football games and showing school spirit with new friends. However, she is not too excited for boring lecture classes, or the massive classes with hundreds of students, as they might be overwhelming and a learning curve she will have to overcome. Hovland plans to be involved in one extracurricular that she knows of so far, being club or recreational volleyball through the university. Hovland has played volleyball for Fossil and in middle school, as well as clubs throughout her athletic career. She wants to keep her passion for the sport alive, while focusing as much as she can on her education.