Amy Fields is a winner – in more ways than one. Fields has more than three rodeo pageant titles under her belt, but it’s her strength to overcome life’s challenges that has made her a true winner.Born July 8, 1983, at Memorial Hospital in Colorado Springs, Fields and her family have spent most of their lives near Falcon. Fields said she has fond memories of her childhood, living in a small town. “I loved it,” she said. All of her friends lived in the neighborhood, which was connected by five roads that ran parallel to Mustang Road, where she grew up. “We all rode bikes to each other’s houses,” Fields said. “That was the time of my life.”Fields attended elementary and middle school in Falcon and followed in her family’s footsteps when she entered Falcon High School. Her parents, Dan and Tammy Fields, were high school sweethearts at FHS, and her older sister, Nicole, graduated from FHS in 1988.In January 2001, within a few months of Amy Fields’ high school graduation, Nicole Fields was killed in a car accident on Highway 24. “You never think that something like that could ever happen to you or your family but then something clicks, and you realize what life is really all about,” Fields said.The following month, Fields suffered another setback after fracturing her skull during a basketball game. The injury left her with the learning capability of a third grader, temporarily affecting her processing time and memory retention, she said. “I was slow to speak and walk,” she added. Although Fields didn’t realize it at the time, she said both tragedies have made her a stronger person.For many years, Fields said she had dreams of being a marine biologist but changed her mind after realizing Colorado was not close to any oceans. She didn’t know what she wanted to do but said she knew one thing for sure: She didn’t want to become a rodeo queen, like Nicole, who was the 2000 Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Girl of the West. “I never really did enjoy what my sister did,” Fields said. “And you know a lot of kids live in the footsteps of their older siblings or they want to be exactly like them. I just never wanted to go there.”After high school, Fields considered the U.S. Air Force. “I like discipline. I like set structure. I like a schedule. I like to please other people,” she said. “So, I decided to do ROTC.”One of Field’s friends decided to study civil engineering, “I didn’t even know what that was,” Fields said. However, she, too, decided to pursue engineering. Fields studied engineering two years at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and then transferred to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, where she graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering. Fields said she didn’t enjoy engineering until her last couple years of college.In 2003, Fields read a local news story that hit close to home. She said she got angry regarding the bad publicity surrounding the El Paso County Fair’s rodeo pageant and the local 4 H chapter that she had been involved with throughout most of her childhood. Fields said there was talk about doing away with the rodeo queen program, so her parents told her to do something about it or be quiet.Despite her earlier thoughts about pageants, Fields ended up competing for the title of El Paso County Fair Queen. She won. “It was such a rewarding experience,” she said. “Giving back to something that I cared so much about. The 4 H program and the El Paso County Fair really did change my life and allowed me to go to school and be the person that I am today.”The year as the county fair queen was the best year of her life, Fields said. “There are probably very little things in my life that I will be able to do that will ever even compare to that year, just because of its significance,” she said. “It was really hard, and it was the first time that I found joy again. That was so important for me.”Fields said she had decided to also compete for the same title as her sister – Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo Girl of the West. She won that title, too. That same year, she was selected to serve as the Lady in Waiting for Miss Rodeo Colorado. In 2007, she earned that title as well.Participating in a pageant is a lot of work, Fields said. “It is completely a volunteer effort, and I think a lot of people think you do it for the glitz and the glam,” she said. “But you have to supply 100 percent of your funds and you are the one going to schools and elderly facilities to help out and volunteer.” But, she said it’s well worth the effort. “I feel like I’ve been through a lot in my life and just being able to share my story and saying you can have victory in your life … is the main reason I did it,” Fields said.Fields completed her reign as Miss Rodeo Colorado in December and is now working as the stock contractor and special events coordinator for the Professional Rodeo and Cowboys Association, headquartered in Colorado Springs. She tracks all 77 stock contractors in the PRCA, which provides livestock to 660 rodeos nationwide.When she is not working, Fields said she runs and snowboards and still helps with pageants.”I would never leave Colorado Springs or the Falcon area,” she said. “Just because it’s where I grew up and it’s where my family lives. Colorado Springs and Falcon – the setting we have here is just so beautiful.”More on Amy FieldsWhat is the best thing about Falcon?Going to the grocery store or Big R and having a conversation with someone you haven’t seen for a couple months and having that familiarity of people knowing your name. You don’t know everyone, but you can find someone you know. And people still wave when you go down the street or you wave when you pass each other in the car. And now that I’m living in Colorado Springs I appreciate that even more. I love that there is that hometown feel when I come back to Falcon. There is so much family and history for me in this area that you just know it is home.Name someone you admire and why.I admire my parents for going through a horrible situation when they were teenagers. They got married at a young age, had a baby at a young age but made it through and celebrated their 28th wedding anniversary last month. And being able to stick together through my sister’s death – and always being there for me.In rodeo queen world they ask you to pick someone you admire – someone other than your father. I would say Kevin Maguire, co-owner of Overhead Door. He has always been there and has always been a stand-up guy. Watching him being so dedicated to his community and really putting his priorities straight and his attitude of … genuine heart and genuine care for people.What is your favorite memory?My favorite memory is probably a group of memories of when we were little and we would go to the lake with the Wilfongs. Suzie teaches at Falcon Middle School. I remember that’s what we did every weekend, and I just remember having a blast.Where do you see Falcon in 25 years?What I would like to see is not what’s going to be. I see Falcon very dense in population and unfortunately there is not going to be a lot of planning for wetlands or parks or open spaces. Falcon is growing because there are no restrictions. We don’t like government control, but sometimes that is good and there is nothing like that in Falcon. I would like to see more open spaces and more 5-acre farms because that is what we grew up with. I would like to see that happen but unfortunately it won’t, especially with the footprints that have already been made.
