Counseling, praying and horses are all in a day's work for Benny Smith.

Publication: Indian Country Today (Rapid City, S.D.) (via Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service)

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COPYRIGHT 2000 Indian Country Today

Byline: Mary Pierpoint

LAWRENCE, Kan. _ Benny Smith is a real Renaissance Man. By day he is the associate dean of students at Haskell Indian Nations University, in charge of counseling.

He also teaches classes. His easy-going manner and open door policy have made him a favorite of both staff and students on the campus.

But at 5 p.m., when he walks out the door, he leaves all of that behind and enters a world of his own. That world, away from Haskell, is filled with family, horses and spiritualism. His balance of each has made him a role model for Haskell students and horse-loving kids in the Lawrence area for nearly three decades.

Sitting among dozens of pictures of family and horses in his office, Smith reflected on his life. "Actually if there was such a thing as a philosophy of life, I think it would be a study of wisdom, that you base what you do in life on the things that you experience, your insights and the things that you observe.

"That is really called the wisdom spirit. It helps you deal with the circumstances that are created every minute. A...

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