Coming from a low-income family, my home life has been a struggle for quite some time. We have always had to live paycheck to paycheck, only spending money when necessary. I have had to spend countless hours with my mom budgeting and determining what is considered a necessity for my family. I remember one year that I spent all of my birthday money in order to buy groceries for my family because my parents didn’t have any money. I remember when I was a young child, we would have to stand in food lines that local churches hosted during the summer because the only person making money at the time was my dad. As time went on, my family’s money situation has improved, however, it is still not where it needs to be. My sister and I work to help provide for our family because we do not meet a living income for the expenses my family encounters on a daily basis. It is an everyday occurrence that my family has to budget. As a result of this, I constantly have to give up things that I want in order for my family to purchase things that they need. It can be a very stressful thing to go through, but over time I have learned to cope with it and deal with it. Though my childhood has been complicated and stressful, and despite the fact that I have experienced things that some children will never have to experience, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I have always been a very compassionate person with a huge heart. I love the thought of helping people, especially when it comes to my family. Being a homebody, I am very close with my family, and I strive to help them in any way that I can. As I mentioned before, this led to actions such as purchasing groceries for my family when we didn’t have any. These are things that make me happy because I know that I am helping the people I love, especially when they are in a time of great need. The childhood that I experienced has taught me so much about life and so much about what to appreciate in life. I have learned to value the little things in life, such as having clothes to wear, having air conditioning and a heating system, having groceries, having cable, and the list goes on forever. I have learned to appreciate these things that are taken for granted every single day because I know what it is like to be without them. I have truly learned the value of a dollar because a dollar can be gone so quickly. Through this experience, I have learned to become more grateful for everything I have, because while my childhood was rough and there were times where my family was lacking a lot, I still know that there are families out there that have it much worse than we ever did. This has taught me to never take anything for granted and to stop complaining about the little things I don’t have or can’t get. Through all of this, I have learned to want better for myself and my future which is why I have decided to continue my education to become a veterinarian. This scholarship money will not only help support my financial need for the next six years, but it will also support my lifelong dream of becoming a vet. I could never see myself doing anything else with my life because it is what I love and am passionate about.

When I was seven years old, my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Being the age that I was, I was unable to fully comprehend the situation that my family was facing. I didn’t understand exactly how severe my mom’s illness was, until the years that followed. As time went on, I watched my mom go through over thirty surgeries related to her cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation. I have one specific memory that is etched so deeply into my mind of my mother suffering from third-degree burns due to the radiation treatment that she received. She was at the hospital almost all of the time, which was not an easy thing to go through for a seven-year-old. When I finally grasped the idea of the severity of my mom’s condition, I lived with a constant fear that I was going to lose my mom. I was waiting on the edge of my seat to hear the news that she was gone almost all of the time. There is no way that I could ever describe the way I felt, but I know that no one should ever have to experience those feelings. Though my family struggled a lot coping with the news we had received, it was a time in which I learned to grow up and mature very quickly. With my mom being unable to help most of the time, I felt as though it was my job to step up and take care of my family. During this time, my family and I grew very close. We all stepped up to fill my mom’s place and take care of her. We wanted to do everything we could to help her. It was during this time that I learned exactly what it meant to be a family. I learned the importance of having a good support system that will last a lifetime. Having someone to turn to when things get hard is so beneficial because you know that no matter what happens, someone will always be there for you. From now on, I will always know that I have a support system forever. Another important lesson that I learned is to never take anything for granted. From this situation, I was able to realize that anything can be taken away from you at any moment. I could never imagine a life without my mom because she has always been my role model. Not having her would have not only devastated me but as well as the rest of my family. I have learned that holding onto the precious moments we have with the ones we love is so important because they could be gone in the blink of an eye. Lastly, I learned a very important life lesson about perseverance. I learned this lesson all because of my mom. Cancer is one of the hardest things anyone could ever face, both physically and mentally. As I watched my mom fight her way through her sickness with her head held high and a smile on her face, I was inspired to replicate her fight. She taught me that persevering even in the darkest times is what gets you through to the other side. Even when it’s hard, staying positive can be one of the best remedies, because it keeps the hope for a better time burning bright within you. I will take these lessons of appreciation for life and perseverance with me as a begin to pursue my veterinary career. I will apply it not only in the trials I face throughout my career but in life as well.

Ever since I was a young child, I remember waking up early almost every morning to watch The Crocodile Hunter on National Geographic. I remember watching this show for hours on end. It was something about Steve Irwin’s passion for animals and nature that captivated me. I loved learning about the world through his eyes because it was inspired by a passion that consumed his every thought. I remember thinking of him as one of my role models because I aspired to be just like him. I wanted to travel the world and experience firsthand the different ecosystems and the animals that lived within them. I did not know it at the time, but his passion for animals would spark a passion in me that would last a lifetime. This passion has led me to an immense amount of books, documentaries, and TV shows about animals and various ecosystems, that have truly fascinated me. In specific, the documentary Our Planet has taught me so much about ecosystems and how the organisms within them work together for the benefit of the environment. I have also taken several biology classes which I have found to be very interesting. However, the units that seemed to interest me the most were the units on ecology. There is something about learning about the world and how everything fits together that has interested me my entire life. While I love learning about all kinds of animals, for as long as I can remember, I have always loved learning about dogs and cats more specifically. I have found every opportunity that I can to go visit the vet with my family members. I love visiting the vet because I am able to learn a lot about the health of animals through these visits. I also have spent countless hours volunteering at local animal shelters because I truly care about animals finding a forever home. My family and I have personally adopted several animals over time and it has been some of the best decisions we have ever made. There is a companionship that animals give that humans are not able to give. I know that I am greatly appreciative of this companionship and I want others to be able to experience this as well. Due to the fact that I have such a strong passion for animals, I have decided to pursue the path of becoming a veterinarian. I think that this is a career that I will genuinely enjoy because I will be able to work with animals that I love every single day. Personally, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else with my life. I even plan to shadow my local vet this summer to learn more about the career and what it is like on a day-to-day basis. To learn more, I plan to talk to vets that I encounter, as well as research more about it. In regard to learning more about animals, I plan to continue watching various documentaries and TV shows, as well as researching and reading more about them. I am so thankful for the aspects of my life that have inspired me to pursue this career, as well as the aspects and people that have sparked this passion within me.

My name is Alexandra Honeycutt and I am a graduating senior at the Cabarrus-Kannapolis Early College High School. For four years, I have worked alongside many amazing teachers and administrators, but the one who stood out to me the most was my sophomore year American History teacher, Mr. Lyons. Going into American History, I was very nervous, because I had never enjoyed my history classes beforehand. Personally, it was not something that interested me, so I was anticipating how this class would turn out. However, I had no idea how much my perspective would change. Mr. Lyons not only changed my mind about history but also sparked an interest in learning that I had not had in a long time. He was the teacher that made learning fun for me. Looking back on his class, I not only have a much deeper understanding of history, but I now understand how truly important learning is. Through his class, I learned how to dig deeper than the surface to unveil the significance of the historical events I had heard about my entire life. I also learned that learning does not have to be a task, but rather it should be something interesting and fun to do, and that is exactly what I was able to do in his class. Not only did he help me on an academic basis, but on a personal basis as well. Mr. Lyons put an immense amount of effort towards all his students to ensure that they were prepared for their academic futures and for life in general. He spent countless hours helping students in succeeding, including me. He would give advice when it was needed and worked very hard in making sure that the atmosphere in his classroom was a safe one. It is because of this positive environment and next to perfect teaching, that I have grown to love learning. This has pushed me to learn about things that I am interested in even more, which has helped me decide on what I would like to pursue as a future career. Not only this, but I have had several conversations with him while undergoing the decision process for college. To truly show the impact he has made on my decision process, I have committed to UNC Charlotte to continue my education in the fall, which is the school that he graduated from. He has helped me a tremendous amount with guidance and advice when it comes to planning for the future, and for that, I could never thank him enough. In conclusion, his hard work and dedication to teaching and advising have helped guide me in the right direction for my future. It has sparked a passion in me for learning that could never be replaced with anything and I know that it will be carried with me from now on. I could never have done it without him, as well as the rest of the amazing staff at CKECHS.

The wise words that mean the most to me were words spoken to me by my mother. All of my life my mother has guided and directed me so that I can become the best version of myself. A quote that she that has stuck with me all of my life is this; "Always forgive. Even when you don't feel like it. As long as you always forgive, you can remain pure at heart and have no regrets." These words were spoken to her by her father before he passed, and they have continued to remain true in her life, and now in mine. As I have grown up, life has found its way to throw itself at me time and time again. When situations and conflicts have arisen with people, I find myself having to forgive. When I find myself in situations in which forgiveness is required, it can be hard sometimes. Emotions arise and can easily get in the way of deciding to forgive. However, despite all of that, every time that I have decided to forgive I have never regretted it. Forgiveness is such a unique and special action because of what it does to not only the people being forgiven, but also to the people who are doing the forgiving. When you forgive someone, you are able to mend relationships that could have easily been broken by a quarrel or conflict. It also helps relationships become stronger because you learn from your mistakes and grow from them. As far as it goes with what forgiveness does to you, it can be life-altering. When you decide to forgive someone, I believe that it softens your heart, but not in a way that you become weak. It creates a vulnerability within you that only makes you stronger. In the eyes of the world, it is common to believe that forgiveness makes you weaker because it creates a way for people to use and abuse you. However, in my opinion, forgiveness allows us to grow as people and learn to love despite the conflicts that present themselves throughout our life. The more we forgive over and over again, the easier it becomes. I have learned this life lesson through the wise words spoken to me because I have applied them in my life more times than I can count. They have proven to remain true every single time. I am so thankful to have learned this lesson early in my life because I know that it will be something that I carry with me for the rest of my life. And I attribute it all to my mother who took the step to teach me this hard lesson.

I think that it is very important for people to be involved in their communities for several reasons. The first being that it is a way to meet people and learn about their lives. This is an excellent step towards getting out of our own heads and opening our eyes to the world around us so that we do not become too self-centered. This is a major issue today because we often find our world revolving around ourselves, but when we take a moment to look at the lives of others, it can be monumental and life-changing for not only ourselves but for others as well. Another reason is that it can be very educational for us, as well as give us a new passion. When you step outside of your comfort zone or go the extra mile to help someone in need, it allows us to learn about something that we may not have thought about or known about before. We are able to see that the world goes much deeper than we expect. This in turn can spark a passion within the hearts of those becoming involved that can then follow along with them throughout the rest of their lives. I have become very involved in my community over the last several years. One of the most important ways being on behalf of my mother who is a Breast Cancer survivor. In 2010, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3B Breast Cancer. For two years, I watched my mom fight for her life. She fought through over 30 surgeries, seven years of chemotherapy and radiation. She suffered through third-degree burns all over her chest, which made her skin turn black, a mastectomy, and losing her hair. Despite the pain that she experienced, she always had a smile on her face. Never in my life have I seen a woman be so tough and so strong. My mom has now been cancer-free for eight years. After seeing everything and feeling everything that I felt while my mom underwent the most trying and challenging time of her life, I can stand strong and say that I have learned so much from my mom. My mom is living proof of what a strong woman should look like and what they should represent. Every day she encourages me to spread love and positivity just as she did during her trying times. My mom decided to spread her story to other women just like her through an organization called “Focused on a Cure.” Her story can now be viewed by hundreds of women undergoing the same thing she did in the Breast Health Center at the Northeast Hospital. Her personal story is even apart of a traveling display that goes around the country. She was awarded the “Breast Cancer Champion” award by Atrium Health in 2014 and she also has been asked to deliver several speeches by many organizations to tell others about her story. My mom is an inspiration to women across the country. She has encouraged me to do the same. For several years, I have completed several projects centered around breast cancer awareness. I have held several presentations on the importance of mammograms at several local businesses, made handmade pillows and bracelets for the chemotherapy patients at my local hospital, and I have even volunteered at several breast cancer awareness fundraisers through Focused on a Cure organized by Karen Goforth. My mom has inspired me to inspire other women. Another way that I have become involved in the community is through one of my biggest passions, animals. My passion for animals is the main reason why I want to become a veterinarian. I have always felt a connection to animals and my desire and aspirations are to help them in any way that I can. I have spent countless hours serving in various animal shelters, working to provide them with the best stay possible. I have also worked in promoting adoption, as well as education on the topic of spaying and neutering. This is a specific passion of mine and it has been something that has interested me heavily for many years. As a result of this, my ultimate goal is to open up my own veterinary clinic. However, I do have another dream aside from this. Through my vet clinic, I want to have a separate organization in which I can take in stray animals and/or abused and neglected animals. In this organization, I will nurse the animals back to health and from there I will have them available for adoption. Through this organization, I plan to educate on the importance of spaying and neutering to avoid unwanted animal pregnancies and to slow the rate at which the stray population is increasing.

Years of pain, suffering, agony, and fear shaped the woman that I look up to and call my role model. My mother is the strongest woman I have ever met and every day, she gives me example after example of what a strong woman looks like. Every day she encourages me to be the best that I can possibly be. In 2010, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3B Breast Cancer. I still remember the fear and the angst that I felt the day I found out. The thought of losing my mom killed me inside. My mom had been my best friend my whole life. I couldn’t lose her now. For two years, I watched my mom fight for her life. She fought through over 30 surgeries, seven years of chemotherapy and radiation. She suffered through third-degree burns all over her chest, which made her skin turn black, a mastectomy, and losing her hair. But still, regardless of the pain and the suffering she faced, she wanted to be a mom to her family. I remember so clearly in my mind that she would crawl on her hands and knees to do everyday tasks, such as cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen. She always had a smile on her face because she didn’t want her family to be scared of what we were all facing together. Never in my life have I seen a woman be so tough and so strong. My mom has now been cancer-free for eight years. I have never been more thankful and grateful to have my mom in my life. After seeing everything and feeling everything that I felt while my mom underwent the most trying and challenging time of her life, I can stand strong and say that I have learned so much from my mom. My mom is living proof of what a strong woman should look like and what they should represent. Every day she encourages me to spread love and positivity just as she did during her trying times. My mom decided to spread her story to other women just like her through an organization called “Focused on a Cure.” Her story can now be viewed by hundreds of women undergoing the same thing she did in the Breast Health Center at the Northeast Hospital. Her personal story is even apart of a traveling display that goes around the country. She was awarded the “Breast Cancer Champion” award by Atrium Health in 2014 and she also has been asked to deliver several speeches by many organizations to tell others about her story. My mom is an inspiration to women across the country. She has encouraged me to do the same. For several years, I have completed several projects centered around breast cancer awareness. I have held several presentations on the importance of mammograms at several local businesses, made handmade pillows and bracelets for the chemotherapy patients at my local hospital, and I have even volunteered at several breast cancer awareness fundraisers through Focused on a Cure organized by Karen Goforth. My mom has inspired me to inspire other women. She also encourages me every day to always put my best foot forward, even when I don’t feel like it because you never know how you can impact someone’s life. Every day I look at my mother and think to myself, “I want to be just like her,” so that is what I strive to do.

My name is Alexandra Honeycutt and for as long as I can remember, I have always loved animals. I have always been deeply compelled by nature, especially the wildlife that it consists of. I love to learn about species and how they adapt to their environments over time. I also love learning about how wildlife species interact with one another. Everything from animal anatomy to environments, to predator-prey competition, is something that I have taken interest in my whole life. I have spent countless hours watching documentaries and reading books and researching all kinds of animals ever since I was a child. This was because it was something that interested me greatly. While I love learning about many kinds of animals, to be more specific, I especially love learning about dogs and cats. I have grown up with pets my entire life. Everything from big dogs to little dogs and many kinds of cats too. Taking care of them, playing with them, and loving them has always been something that brings me much joy. My passion for animals is the main reason why I want to become a veterinarian. I have always felt a connection to animals and my desire and aspirations are to help them in any way that I can. I believe that by being a veterinarian, I can put my desires into action. I can also learn more about animals through this. I believe that by doing so, I can build off my previous knowledge to gain a more in-depth understanding of animals and how they work. While I want to become a veterinarian, those are not the only goals that I have. My goals and plans for my life go much deeper than that. After becoming a veterinarian, my dream is to open my own vet clinic. Through my vet clinic, I want to have a separate organization in which I can take in stray animals, nurse them back to health, and have them available for adoption. In order to achieve these goals, I first plan to complete my bachelor’s degree majoring in Environmental Biology. To me majoring in Environmental Biology does not just mean studying nature. It means studying how wildlife interacts with one another. It means studying ecosystems and how they all come together and intertwine. It means studying the intricate processes of nature that seemingly go unnoticed. It encompasses everything about the world that humans so often seem to overlook. I selected this major because it has a close correlation to the topics and concepts that I want to learn about. It also goes hand-in-hand with the courses that I would need to take. I know that by majoring in biology, I will be very interested and passionate about the courses that I will be taking. After I have graduated with my BA in Environmental Biology, I will be pursuing Veterinarian School. To be able to do something of this nature truly inspires me to keep working hard and to stay determined because I could not imagine my life any other way. When I think of my future this way, I see myself happy and filled with joy and passion. I know without a doubt in my mind that this would allow me to do something that I truly love. It would give me a purpose and give me many opportunities to impact the communities around me. I have very big dreams for my life, and I know they can only be accomplished by hard work and determination. I never plan to give up on my dreams because I could not imagine my life any other way. I want to achieve every one of my goals in life and change the world. However, this comes through furthering my education. I want to give everything I’ve got when it comes to reaching my goals, and I will not stop until I get there. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the world has changed a great deal. While everyone has been in quarantine, there has been a surge in the need for doctors and nurses. There also has been an increased need for researchers, etc. The world has changed around us so rapidly that it is almost impossible to keep up, but in my opinion, that has driven us all to push a little bit harder towards our goals. As more and more research has been completed to put together and create a vaccine for COVID-19, more people are being able to breathe and relax because they feel more at ease. However, in a post-pandemic world, will there be a need for these kinds of occupations again? I personally believe that as we move from one chapter to the next, there is still going to be a need for these occupations that are going to make them more important than they ever were before. Even if we ever get to the point where COVID-19 is just a piece of history to us, the effects of it will never go away. The loved ones lost will never come back. The trauma caused will forever be a scar. I believe that this pandemic has made everyone, all around the globe, more conscious of their health and well-being. I believe doctor visits are going to increase, vaccination rates are going to increase, and even new vaccinations are going to be created. I also believe this is a major time for engineers and inventors to step forth and present solutions to the problems that we are going to struggle with in a post-pandemic world. While these kinds of occupations are severely important now to us in the middle of this global pandemic, I believe that they are going to become even more important in the aftermath. All types of STEM occupations are going to be the occupations that we look to at the end of the day to give us hope and to guide us in the right directions so that we can survive another day.

This is my pet named Winston. He is an eight-month-old German Shepherd. He loves to play all day with his favorite toys, but at the end of the day, it's nap time! He lays on his back and gets tucked in with a cover, and off to sleep he goes. You can even see my brother taking a nap with him too in the third picture. The first picture however is a picture of Winston sitting on the couch as if he was a human. How funny is that? There really is no other dog quite like Winston!

Years of pain, suffering, agony, and fear shaped the woman that I look up to and call my role model. My mother is the strongest woman I have ever met and every day, she gives me example after example of what a strong woman looks like. Every day she encourages me to be the best that I can possibly be. In 2010, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3B Breast Cancer. I still remember the fear and the angst that I felt the day I found out. I remember feeling the room close in around me. I felt as though I could have passed out in that very moment. The thought of losing my mom killed me inside. My mom had been my best friend my whole life. I couldn’t lose her now. For two years, I watched my mom fight for her life. She fought through over 30 surgeries, seven years of chemotherapy and radiation. She suffered through third-degree burns all over her chest, which made her skin turn black, a mastectomy, and losing her hair. For years, I watched my mom break down crying, saying that she felt like a monster, not understanding why she had to go through what she went through. But still, regardless of the pain and the suffering she faced, she wanted to be a mom to her family. I remember so clearly in my mind that she would crawl on her hands and knees to do everyday tasks, such as cooking us dinner or cleaning the kitchen. She always had a smile on her face because she didn’t want her family to be scared of what we were all facing together. Never in my life have I seen a woman be so tough and so strong. My mom has now been cancer-free for eight years. I have never been more thankful and grateful to have my mom in my life. After seeing everything and feeling everything that I felt while my mom underwent the most trying and challenging time of her life, I can stand strong and say that I have learned so much from my mom. My mom is living proof of what a strong woman should look like and what they should represent. Every day she encourages me to spread love and positivity just as she did during her trying times. My mom decided to spread her story to other women just like her through an organization called “Focused on a Cure.” Her story can now be viewed by hundreds of women undergoing the same thing she did in the Breast Health Center at the Northeast Hospital. Her personal story is even apart of a traveling display that goes around the country. She was awarded the “Breast Cancer Champion” award by Atrium Health in 2014 and she also has been asked to deliver several speeches by many organizations to tell others about her story. My mom is an inspiration to women across the country. She has encouraged me to do the same. For several years, I have completed several projects centered around breast cancer awareness. I have held several presentations on the importance of mammograms at several local businesses, made handmade pillows and bracelets for the chemotherapy patients at my local hospital, and I have even volunteered at several breast cancer awareness fundraisers through Focused on a Cure organized by Karen Goforth. My mom has inspired me to inspire other women. She also encourages me every day to always put my best foot forward, even when I don’t feel like it because you never know how you can impact someone’s life. Every day I look at my mother and think to myself, “I want to be just like her,” so that is what I strive to do. I plan to take everything she has taught me into a future career by spreading love and positivity everywhere that I go. I want to make an impact in this world, just like she did. If I am able to help someone have hope, feel happy again, or even at the least, smile just once, I want to be able to do that. If I have even the slightest opportunity to be anything like my mom, I will take that opportunity, and I will take it gladly. I want to change the world, but I know that something as ambitious as that starts small. So I will start small and take with me everything that my mom has taught me about being strong.

My greatest inspiration in life is my mom. My mother is the strongest woman I have ever met and every day, she sets an example for me of what a strong woman looks like. Every day she encourages me to be the best that I can possibly be. In 2010, my mom was diagnosed with stage 3B Breast Cancer. I still remember the fear and the angst that I felt the day I found out. The thought of losing my mom killed me inside. My mom had been my best friend my whole life. I couldn’t lose her now. For two years, I watched my mom fight for her life. She fought through over 30 surgeries, seven years of chemotherapy and radiation. She suffered through third-degree burns, which made her skin turn black, a mastectomy, and losing her hair. However, regardless of the pain and the suffering she faced, she wanted to be a mom to her family. I remember so clearly in my mind that she would crawl on her hands and knees to do everyday tasks. She always had a smile on her face because she didn’t want her family to be scared of what we were all facing together. Never in my life have I seen a woman be so tough and so strong. My mom has now been cancer-free for eight years. I have never been more thankful and grateful to have my mom in my life. After seeing everything and feeling everything that I felt while my mom underwent the most trying and challenging time of her life, I can stand strong and say that I have learned so much from my mom. My mom is living proof of what a strong woman should look like and what they should represent. Every day she encourages me to spread love and positivity just as she did during her trying times. My mom decided to spread her story to other women just like her through an organization called “Focused on a Cure.” Her story can now be viewed by hundreds of women undergoing the same thing she did in the Breast Health Center at the Northeast Hospital. My mom is an inspiration to so many women and she has encouraged me to do the same. For several years, I have completed several projects centered around breast cancer awareness. I have held several presentations on the importance of mammograms at local businesses, made handmade pillows and bracelets for the chemotherapy patients at my local hospital, and have volunteered at several breast cancer awareness fundraisers through Focused on a Cure. My mom has inspired me to inspire other women. She also encourages me every day to always put my best foot forward, even when I don’t feel like it because you never know how you can impact someone’s life. Every day I look at my mother and think to myself, “I want to be just like her,” so that is what I strive to do.

My name is Alexandra Honeycutt and I am a senior at Cabarrus-Kannapolis Early College Highschool. I have had a passion for animals my whole life and I have grown up with animals around all the time. I have always been around dogs and cats, and the more I have been around them, the more I have grown to love them. This love then led me to learn more about animals. I would spend hours on end watching documentaries, TV shows, and Youtube videos, as well as reading stacks of books on all sorts of animals. This passion then led me to begin searching for future career opportunities revolving around animals. The more I thought about this, the more I realized that my dream was to become a veterinarian. Becoming a veterinarian would be my biggest goal and dream in life because I could never see myself doing anything else for the rest of my life. I have spent my entire life thus far, caring for and loving animals with my entire heart, so it only makes sense to do it for the rest of my life. I truly do believe that I would make an amazing veterinarian because of the genuine passion that I have for bettering the lives of animals and the life long companions of humans. I know what it is like to have a pet. There comes a point in time where your pet is not just a pet anymore. They eventually become a family member because you grow to love them so much. I also know what it is like to lose that family member. I have made it my life's goal to help everyone that I possibly can to not have to experience this pain. I want to be able to help my patients fully recover to the best of my ability, as well as help families keep their pets for as long as possible. In my wildest dreams, I see myself owning my own vet clinic that is able to help all animals and all families at the lowest price possible. The reason I want it to be at the lowest price possible is that I know that the vet is often very expensive and some families are not able to afford the proper care that is required for their pets. This then can cause their pets to get very sick or even causes them to pass away because they did not receive the care that they need. However, when something is going to cost as little as possible, this will then increase the number of people that bring their pets to the vet to get them the care that they need. Another aspect that I would love to have at my clinic is an adoption agency for stray animals. I have always loved nurturing and caring for stray animals that I come across. For example, I am currently feeding three stray cats that live outside because I do not want them to starve or have to search for food. I want them to know that they will always have food to come to when they are hungry. At my vet clinic, I would love to save stray animals, nurse them to health, and work to adopt them and gift them to their loving, forever homes. I would also love to advocate for the importance of spaying and neutering because overtime, I have been made aware of the rapidly increasing stray pet population due to the low rates of spaying and neutering. I have very large dreams and aspirations for my life and I know the only way to achieve this is through a lot of education and hard work. However, I am more than willing to do that, because I want to make a difference in an area of life that is often overlooked. Animals are a lot more complex than we often realize and they have feelings too. They deserve to be loved too. I want to make a difference in not only the lives of animals, but also in the lives of those that love their animals. Thank you for your time and consideration!

When I was seven years old, my mother was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Being the age that I was, I was unable to fully comprehend the situation that my family was facing. I didn’t understand exactly how severe my mom’s illness was, until the years that followed. As time went on, I watched my mom go through over thirty surgeries related to her cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation. I have one specific memory that is etched so deeply into my mind of my mother suffering from third-degree burns due to the radiation treatment that she received. She was at the hospital almost all of the time, which was not an easy thing to go through for a seven-year-old. When I finally grasped the idea of the severity of my mom’s condition, I lived with a constant fear that I was going to lose my mom. I was waiting on the edge of my seat to hear the news that she was gone almost all of the time. There is no way that I could ever describe the way I felt, but I know that no one should ever have to experience those feelings. Though my family struggled a lot coping with the news we had received, it was a time in which I learned to grow up and mature very quickly. With my mom being unable to help most of the time, I felt as though it was my job to step up and take care of my family. During this time, my family and I grew very close. We all stepped up to fill my mom’s place and take care of her. We wanted to do everything we could to help her. It was during this time that I learned exactly what it meant to be a family. I learned the importance of having a good support system that will last a lifetime. Having someone to turn to when things get hard is so beneficial because you know that no matter what happens, someone will always be there for you. From now on, I will always know that I have a support system forever. Another important lesson that I learned is to never take anything for granted. From this situation, I was able to realize that anything can be taken away from you at any moment. I could never imagine a life without my mom because she has always been my role model. Not having her would have not only devastated me but as well as the rest of my family. I have learned that holding onto the precious moments we have with the ones we love is so important because they could be gone in the blink of an eye. Lastly, I learned a very important life lesson about perseverance. I learned this lesson all because of my mom. Cancer is one of the hardest things anyone could ever face, both physically and mentally. As I watched my mom fight her way through her sickness with her head held high and a smile on her face, I was inspired to replicate her fight. She taught me that persevering even in the darkest times is what gets you through to the other side. Even when it’s hard, staying positive can be one of the best remedies, because it keeps the hope for a better time burning bright within you. At the time I would have never thought that I could have learned so many lessons from such a hard time in my life, but at the end of it all, I am grateful that I got to experience this with my family. I not only grew much closer with them, but I also learned a lot of very important life lessons that I will carry with me throughout the rest of my life.

My entire life, I grew up in the church. I grew up knowing all about Jesus and what He had done for other people. I believed that His love extended to everyone, but I had not yet had any true encounter with Him that made me feel like I should go all-in. I wouldn't say that I was a nonbeliever, however, it was safe to say that my faith was severally unstable. This caused me to spiral into a life full of sin. I had no connection with Jesus, other than what I had grown up knowing. I began straying further away from God. I was going to church every Sunday feeling numb to the presence of God. I began spiraling into a very deep depression, in which I was angry at myself and angry at God. I had been living a life of sin for 12 years and it seemed like nothing was going to change. I spent many nights crying out to God, with tears rolling down my face, "God why me? Why won't you do something about this? Do you even love me?" I didn't understand why I ended up the way I did. It got so bad, that I hated waking up every morning. I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror because I didn't know who I was looking at. But the one thing I could do was hide it perfectly from everyone. Every day, I put on my happy church smile and pretended I wasn't dying inside. I was living a complete and utter lie. This all began to change in 2018 when my aunt invited me to a winter conference. I heard many stories about how life-changing it was and how many people never left the same. I had high hopes for this conference, thinking maybe this would be my time. At this conference, I had such an amazing encounter with God. I thought to myself "this is finally it! No more sin!" I thought that it was over and I would never deal with it again. However, a few months later, I fell right back into my old patterns. I ended up going to the same conference again in 2019 and started thinking the same thing. "This is finally it!" I wasn't even close. I did the exact same thing. I had no idea why God would give everyone else that "chain-breaking" moment. You know the one where God sets them free completely from their sin. I thought that God would never do that for me, and I would end up taking my sin to the grave. I finally decided to give up on God because I was so disappointed in myself. If I was just going to keep doing the same things over and over again, why even try? This suddenly changed one night as I began to pray. I was praying to God and said to him, "God, if there is any chance at all...Please help me!" I got the idea to begin doing daily devotionals and as I started doing these, God spoke to me and gave me a revelation on why He did not set me free when I wanted Him to. He showed me that I had been so close-minded to how God works. I thought the only way God could ever set me free was by giving me that one moment with Him that would change everything. He showed me this was not the case with me. He showed me that while He can do that for people, He was working gradually within me and was working things out in my heart before I was able to go all-in. Through this, God has shown me that He is always working no matter what. We often don't even notice it, but He is always doing great things in our life and if you always seek Him, He will never leave you. Now when I Iook back, I can see that His mighty hand was always on my life, even when I didn't know it. I have grown so much stronger in Christ and truly can call myself a Christian now. God has even allowed me to use my experiences to lead my boyfriend back to Christ. This moves me greatly because I would have never seen myself where I am today. I am so grateful to God for changing my life the way He did and I pray that I will never ever forget it!

Ace-the best friend a girl could ever ask for! Ace was a 3 year old German Shepherd, but to me, he was not just a dog. He was family. He lived an amazing life with lots of love and memories to last a life time. However, when he unexpectedly passed away last month, I felt as though my heart had been ripped out of my chest. Even though Ace is no longer with us, he still lives in my heart everyday. His adorable puppy dog eyes will live on forever and no matter what, he will always be my dog!