College degree leads to new opportunities for first-generation graduate

Growing up, Shelbie Ricks often was reminded of one of her mother’s sayings.

“Use my ceiling as your floor,” her mom, Ginger Davis, would say, nudging her daughter to set high goals for herself.

Ricks, 21, kept that saying in mind through her days at Braden River High School and now as she begins her agriculture teaching career at Lakewood Ranch High in August.

She is an eighth-generation Manatee County resident and a fifth-generation rancher.

All her life, she has been involved in her family’s businesses. Her parents, Ginger and Luke Davis, own an arboriculture business (Olive Branch Tree Care), and her grandparents, Linda and Jim Parks, own a feed and farm supply store (Come See, Come Sav). Both also raise cattle.

In high school, Ricks took dual enrollment classes and graduated from high school in 2020 halfway to her associates degree. 

After graduation, Ricks had a choice to make. She could either stay home and help her family with their businesses, or go to college. 

She remembered her mother’s words. 

“Use my ceiling as your floor.”

First in the family

Courtesy photo

On May 4, Ricks followed through on her mom's advice. 

She walked across the stage to accept her diploma from the University of Florida. 

She became the first in her family to graduate from college. 

“It kind of leaves me speechless,” Ricks said. “My family is well known here in Manatee County, so it gives me a sense of pride to add something else to our plate.”

Ricks said she wouldn’t have been able to get to graduation day without the love and support of her family and husband, Britton Ricks. 

She told her family she was willing to stay home and work for the businesses instead of going to college, but her family pushed her to pursue her dreams. 

Linda Parks, Ricks’ grandmother, said seeing her granddaughter be the first to graduate from college was awesome. 

“We are so proud,” Parks said. “There are no words in the dictionary to express how proud I am.”

At the University of Florida, Ricks joined the Gator Collegiate Cattlewomen’s Association and the UF Block and Bridle Club. 

She also traveled to the Florida State Fair as one of the first showmen of the UF Brahman Show Team. The team showcased four of the Brahmans that were born and bred at UF. They assisted with research to advance the genetics of the UF Brahmans.

Photo by Liz Ramos

Ricks said she tries to use knowledge she has gained to keep her family's agriculture businesses updated. 

“Being able to be knowledgeable with the new, modern technology for beef cattle and being on the forefront of the new genetics that are out there help better our herd and stay on top of diseases and pests that are attacking the industry,” Ricks said. “Other producers don’t really know these things are going to be out until they’re hitting their herd, and then it’s too late.”

Ginger Davis said no one in the family has had the horticulture knowledge that Linda Parks, Davis’ mother, has until Ricks went to college. 

“We always say if we could clone my mom, we would be in a good place because I don’t have that horticulture knowledge,” Davis said. “But now, Shelbie hopefully can help us. I’ll be having to text her while she’s working (at school) to say, ‘Hey, what about this plant?’”

Building on a legacy

Ricks is looking forward to the school year at Lakewood Ranch High.

“It’s a full-circle moment for me,” Ricks said. “I knew I always wanted to come back to Manatee County. I didn’t know where I was going to be, but it’s definitely something I’ve prayed for.”

When she first started college, Ricks said she wanted to be a large animal vet, but she realized it wasn’t the best path for her because she wanted to raise a family.

Ricks said her love for education began when she was in FFA at Braden River High. She competed in an agriculture education competition where she simulated a lesson plan and delivered a lesson to college students. She was judged on her lesson and the information she was providing. Ricks said it gave her the opportunity to see how creative she can be teaching others. 

She also knew several agriculture teachers in Manatee County through her family’s businesses and understood the sense of community among the teachers. 

Like those teachers, she wants to pass the torch to younger generations.

“There’s a place for everybody in agriculture,” she said.