Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia, and now Crookston. She has traveled the world, and still Avery Crook was drawn to the University of Minnesota Crookston with the feeling she “needed to be here.”

“As a city girl, I’ve always wanted that small-town community feeling,” says Crook, a first-year equine business management major.

When Crook was just 6 years old and her brother was 2, her family packed up and moved to China on a whim, where they would reside for the next 10 years.

“My parents are very quirky,” Crook says. “They are so ambitious, and when they want an adventure, they will seek an adventure.”

While living there, Crook and her family traveled to Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Canada, and other countries.

Crook says her favorite place was Ocala, Florida, where she spent four months working at the World Equestrian Center.

Getting the ‘pony bug’

With her family now living in Minnetonka, Minnesota, she says she got the “pony bug” at 3 years old, when she began riding. Her parents thought she would grow out of her “horse phase.” She didn’t. She currently has a horse at home named Bunny.

Originally drawn to the U of M Crookston for its equine program, the UMC ’68 Agriculture Division Alumni Scholarship recipient is now a member of the Equestrian Hunt-Seat team. She says she hopes to work in horse sales and import internationally after graduating.

Crook also is a member of the UMC Multicultural International Club and a student assistant for student affairs. She’s gaining experience in event planning and has helped run multicultural events including the Mid Autumn Festival and the Wild Rice Festival.

“If I had the time I would be in everything!”

Support students participating in equestrian events through the UMC Equestrian Team fund.