One of this week’s Senior Spotlights is on someone I knew for years before I came to RMA. I met Gavin Ozment when I began riding horses at Faithful Stables and have been lucky enough to call him my friend ever since. Gavin describes himself as someone who is traditional and a hard worker, which I can testify to. He works hard at everything he does, especially when it comes to handling horses.

With his high school career coming to an end, this hard worker is taking Honors Pre-Calculus, Honors English 12, AP Biology, and Ecology, with Ecology being his favorite class. Further showing his interest in science, Gavin is the president and founder of Conservation Club, which works around the school to improve ecological habitats for wildlife and outdoor learning environments for our students. This allows more teachers and students to walk the trails bordering the campus, looking for evidence of animals such as deer, waterfowl, and turkeys.

As you would expect of someone so driven, Gavin has achieved academic success during high school, receiving awards such as Highest Academic Average in Marine Biology, Honors US History, and Algebra II; Academic Excellence in Honors Modern European History, Spanish II, Geometry, Honors Biology I, Honors World Cultures, and Spanish I; A Honor Roll in Grades 9, 10, and 11; and the Junior Class Service Award for his work on the 2024 prom.

Outside of school, Gavin does not let himself have any true free time: he fills his days training horses, woodworking, hunting, fishing, hiking, gardening, blacksmithing, and practicing archery. At just eighteen years old, he has been a private business owner for about two and a half years, training western working horses with clients all over North Carolina. He also has investors in Maryland and Wyoming. He has just purchased a King bred mare, meaning that she is off the largest ranch in America.

Thinking about the near future, Gavin has applied and has been accepted to NC State and Lees-McRae College with a plan to major in agriculture since it is an area he is familiar with and passionate about. He is unsure which college he wants to attend, but he knows he wants to continue to train horses and possibly go into law enforcement because he likes to help people.

Get to know Gavin!

What is your favorite school event?

Prom

What will you miss about RMA?

My friends

What is one lesson you learned at RMA?

You get what you give.

What is one piece of advice you’d give to an incoming freshman or to your younger self about high school?

Don’t stress it, and take things one day at a time. It’s only life, and we all live it.

What are you looking forward to in college?

Freedom

Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Raising horses

If you were trapped on a deserted island, what three things would you bring?

Guitar, bow, and water filter

Where is your favorite place and why?

Anywhere outside because it’s peaceful and I can be alone.

What is a talent of yours that we may not know about or something nobody knows about you?

I love to shoot and hunt with traditional wooden bows.