The day I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian, wasn't high school, middle school, or even elementary, it was before that when my mother got me a doll that was dressed up in a veterinarian outfit, and from there on out, I had a goal. Flash forward and currently, I am a senior studying animal science with a pre-veterinary concentration at Michigan State University (MSU). Before MSU, I attended early college throughout high school at the University of Michigan Flint (UM-Flint), after graduating from high school, I started at MSU with 53 college credits (most of which were freshman year pre-requisites) being transferred over. When I began at MSU, I could go straight into my degree-based classes and took classes like introductory and advanced swine management, introduction to animal agriculture, and other animal-based classes. It's my first year at MSU that truly made me fall in love with working with livestock species. Through my animal agriculture class, I visited the south campus farms, practiced taking vitals on horses, and learned about the major diseases affecting each species. In my swine classes, I helped with piglet processing, artificially inseminated sows, and learned about different types of care for each production stage. These experiences continued into my second (junior year) at MSU and outside of class. I took introductory horse management, where I learned horse handling safety and leg wrapping. Two classes I took my junior year that were instrumental in my development of knowledge regarding working in the veterinary field, were animal nutrition and animal health and disease management. Animal nutrition taught me the connection that food has to every part of our bodies, how energy is burned through different production stages, and research methods through a broiler diet project. Animal health and disease management went through all the major diseases impacting the livestock industry and their connected body systems. I also took Introduction to horse judging, where I learned to evaluate different disciplines within the equine show industry, In the fall of 2024, I will be in the advanced class where I will be on the MSU horse judging team. Outside of class, I got involved in Pre- Veterinary Medical Association at MSU, through this club I made industry connections by participating in events like the Michigan Great Lakes International Draft Horse show; where I handled checking wristbands and ticket processing, attending necropsy rounds at MSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and attending labs such as blood draw and suturing techniques. During the summer I used my experiences during college to secure a shadowing/ externship position at Mayfair Animal Hospital where I shadowed the two veterinarians on staff along with all of the veterinary technicians, at least once a week. Here I observed common skills used in the veterinary industry such as restraining, communication, and diagnostic techniques. I also got to watch different procedures such as surgeries, blood draws, giving vaccines, and taking X-rays. I also got the opportunity to shadow for a day at Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic where I saw a variety of different procedures (very different from small animal medicine) such as wound bandaging and pregnancy checks. All of my experiences in my undergrad have played an important role in where I am now within my bachelors program. Although I knew what direction I was heading in, when I first entered college, my experiences have confirmed over and over that this is where I want to be and overall why I want a career in Veterinary Medicine. Thank you, in advance for considering me for the Inguz Memorial Scholarship.