Kristi Noem on Completing Her College Degree

I started college [in 1990] and was pursuing an education degree when my dad was killed in an accident on our farm. That turned our lives upside down. I had to discontinue my education. It was a very difficult decision, but I knew that someone needed to carry on in my dad’s place. The only thing that made me feel better at that time was doing the things I used to do with my dad. Working on the farm with the cattle was my own sort of grief counseling. I immediately became engulfed in a farming operation and a ranching operation.

In 2008 my sister said, “I’m surprised you never went back.” At that point an education wasn’t going to be critical for my career, but I felt as though completing my degree at South Dakota State was a testimony to what kind of person I was. I wanted to make a good example for my kids. I took some classes on campus while I was serving in the state legislature. After I was elected to Congress [in 2010], a lot of my homework was done on airplanes and in airports and late at night. I switched majors to a political science degree. When we were debating the debt ceiling last year in Congress, I was taking a course that was covering topics such as the financial crises of several European countries. It was very interesting to be taking that course while I was serving and having those same kinds of conversations in Congress.