Alex Smith and his grandfather stand outside a cow pen in Statesville, N.C. before a cattle auction on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
"He's the eyes and I'm the numbers guy. I do all the numbers shopping. He does the looking, and he's very good at it. It's just a second nature for him."
Smith prepares cattle feed at the Smith South Mountain Ranch in Casar, N.C. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
"I'm treated different. I know I am. And I see it all the time. Most people see me as strange because I wear boots and hats and different clothes and I got tattoos on me. When I'm trying to be nice and friendly, you know, people ignore me."
The Southern Partners cattle auction in Statesville, N.C. convened cattle ranchers from multiple states on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
"The culture in Western North Carolina has a lot of it is kindhearted folk, a lot of hospitality. Most people are very friendly. They'll get the shirt off their back if they can. So going out there talking about what I got, talking about our ranch ain't new. That's relationships you'll have for a lifetime because a lot of folks out there will remember you."
Smith measures a DNA sample for a newborn calf at the Smith South Mountain Ranch in Casar, N.C. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023. After he graduates from UNC-Chapel Hill, Smith aspires to enter a PhD program in Ecology.
"I pushed myself all through community college. My grandpa said there's no point in going mediocre. There's no point in going to a different school and everything else because it's closer to home. So I got in the Chapel Hill. He said, Go big. And I finally I decided to, you know, follow my dreams. If it wasn't for him I would have never made it out."
At the Southern Parterns cattle auction in Statesville, N.C. Smith looks at valuations of cattle on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
"And it's going to happen every time that people think they're smarter than me because I'm from a small rural town. I must strive to do better. There's only one way. If I fall back down to where I was, I'm gonna keep on climbing."
Smith and his grandfather prepare tags for their calves at the Smith South Mountain Ranch in Casar, N.C. on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
"We've always been like this. Like two peas in a pod. We're best friends out there. We know what each other likes, what we don't like. We just – we connect like that. So it's easy to work with him."
Smith sits in his grandfather's living room in Shelby, N.C. as he waits for dinner to be served on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
"I got that for my Paw Paw when I was a little boy. Growing up the way I did with my parents, we were taught that the rebel flag and the Confederacy was the right thing, something to be proud of, something that we were supposed to love. My parents were not good folks. They had a lot of hatred in their heart. And growing up and being that age, I thought that was the right thing until I realized it wasn't. It reminds me where I came from. I wish he wouldn't keep it, but he does it because I got it for him. I spent my last few dollars on that just to make sure he knew that I cared about him."
The Smith family comes together for thanksgiving dinner in Shelby, N.C. on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
"I don't have a lot of family. Thanksgiving is about spending time with people who do care. I hate that my mother is the way she is. I hate that most of my family is like that. But the family that do care, they're there. They're spending time with me. And that means more than anything in this world to me."
Smith and his grandfather talk with a ranch owner in Union Grove, N.C. on Saturday, November 18, 2023.
I get depressed a lot. Sometimes I just don't wanna get out of bed in the morning because it's that bad. But I don't let that affect my goals. I mean, I still have those issues that are drawn from my past, but that doesn't affect who I'm going to be as a person and where I'm at now. I'm a better person because of how they treated me. That helped build my character. I know I'm meant for something a lot bigger than what I was ever taught, and that's reason why I'm reaching for this. I don't care how many mountains I got to climb. I promise you, nothing is going to stop that.
