Working with animals tends to shape your heart. Ever since I was young, I have had an affinity for animals and their health. Back then, I dealt with and handled dogs and horses. I also cared for my neighbor’s guinea pig and their dog for several years. Later in my pre-teen years, my family and I moved into rural Eastern Washington. With us moving, we added four horses, four cats, and numerous chickens to our family, along with native animals - rabbits, quail, hawks, and deer. The work regarding the new additions is tedious, but I love every second. Our rural environment has given me experience within a small community. I volunteer frequently to help teach horse camps and often house-sit for several of the large ranching families in the area. This continuous work with animals finalized my perspective on what I want to do in life. I decided to pursue a Veterinary career, specializing in large animals (horses and cows, ideally). I hope that by becoming a Veterinarian, I can provide animals with better, safer, and healthier lives. There is always the risk that something may happen to our animals. I know what losing an animal(s) that rested close to the heart feels like; I do not want others going through this pain any more than they might have to. Including the hopelessness that follows the aftermath. Limiting this pain and hopelessness is one aspect I would like to have an impact on. I have learned a lot about livestock and farmers’/ranchers’ livelihoods through my rural community. They are part of the backbone of our food sources throughout this country and are a critical part of maintaining natural balance. I’ve furthered my desire for animal husbandry with my rural lifestyle. I believe the community is key to longevity. Learning by doing, listening, and connecting with others I have learned various aspects about the importance of farming and ranching. I hope to continue working with ranchers via a practice to keep their livestock healthy. By becoming a Large Animal Veterinarian, I will further spread knowledge from the rural communities into larger cities about livestock and how they are critical to our food supply and the livelihoods of these ranchers and farmers. Among the facts of how keeping the natural rural area, natural livestock, and natural medicines will keep our planet healthier through the sustainability that will follow suit. At the end of the school year, I will graduate from high school and Clark College with my high school diploma and a Biology AA. I have completed a Junior Veterinary Scribe Certificate from WSU (Washington State University). I further plan on enrolling in WSU’s Veterinary Preventative Health Certificate. This way I continue gaining more knowledge I can apply when I do an internship this summer at my local clinic in town. In the coming fall, I will be attending Mount Marty University (Yankton, South Dakota) primarily to pursue my Bachelors in Pre-veterinary/Biology. I am hoping to learn the knowledge and skills needed to successfully enter into vet school, by leveraging my Pre-Vet background and internship. At this time, I do not know where exactly I want to apply for vet school. To conclude, through my Veterinary career, I hope to impact keeping animals safe and healthy. To keep agriculture animals healthy, for not only themselves but for the ranchers and farmer’s livelihoods and our food supply chain sustainable. Through continuing my college journey, I will be able to accomplish my goals. No matter what life, and timing, will throw at me - I will find ways to continue my pursuit.

From a young age, I had an innate sense that I wanted to do something important. Not for myself, but for others. For a while, that sense resided mainly with human medicine. As I grew older, I discovered I wanted to pursue a veterinary career. Specifically, I want to become a large-animal veterinarian working with horses, cows, and other ranch animals. I realized that setting my goal, a career path in veterinary sciences, meant a commitment to pursue higher education ultimately reaching the doctorate level. Step 1 was setting my goal. Step 2 entailed planning my school pathway. After graduating high school, I need to continue into higher education at a university with a veterinary program. But first, completing high school. My high school counselor recommended the Running Start Program for my junior and senior years. This program allows high school students to attend a community college within the State of Washington to achieve either an associate degree or up to 90 hours of transfer credits. I chose to attend Clark College and will graduate in June achieving an AA in Biology, with honors (Phi Theta Kappa). The next phase of my higher education plan consists of me attending Mount Marty University in South Dakota. During my time there, I will work to obtain a pre-veterinary and biology bachelor’s degree. Then, the last phase of higher education, is applying to and entering veterinary school. To reach my goal, I must pursue higher education, to become the doctor of veterinarian medicine that I dream of being and helping animals and owners alike. A veterinary career excites me for several reasons. Firstly, it involves working with animals. I enjoy working with them in general. Then secondly, I will be able to help more animals, and in turn, their owners. Helping animals in whatever way I can, whether it is large or small, makes me feel a sense of accomplishment and joy. Even if it is only a few things, helping animals live happy and healthy lives is what I strive to do and want to do. From experience, I know how important it is to have a good vet who understands how to work with animals and understand how the owner functions in a stressful situation. During my education, leading up to vet school, I can learn and gather more information for working with animals. I already have a rough understanding of what an owner goes through on visits to the vet’s clinic. Granted, it does vary on what the clinic visit is about. I have had several animals that needed to go to the local vet clinic. Both for positive and negative reasons. For example: I have lost 3 animals from cancer (lymphatic cancer, tumor in the digestive tract, and leukemia), a few animals passed away in their sleep/old age, and a few dealt life-threatening incidents. I have also had to deal with animals for a routine check-up or non-life-threatening issues. To conclude, why I want to continue my higher education, it is because I wish to attend a veterinary school, gain the necessary experience, and ultimately become a veterinarian.

Ever since I was a child, I have always had an inherent passion for animals. This passion started an urge, a small urge at that moment, to find ways to protect, cherish, and keep animals healthy. In terms of an experience that fueled this passion further, and greater than I would have thought previously, revolves around one of my horses - Tuffy. When my family and I bought Tuffy around 5 years ago, he was a head horse (finished roping horse) that was used for ranching activities. With his background, he tended to run around corners or when released from his halter. Jump ahead a year or two, and a few days after Easter. Our pasture/turn-out area was severely icy. Tuffy decided to run after being put out into the pasture. He ran down the fence line headed for a sharp left turn into the feed area and slid - he ended up crashing into the run-in and landed with his head twisted fully underneath him. Initially, as he lay still, we thought he was dead. He slammed into the run-in and crashed into the ground so suddenly and severely, it seemed like a viable possibility. In reality, he knocked himself out and damaged several vertebrae, alongside brain trauma from the impact. Needless to say, this resulted in Tuffy developing some major neurological issues. These neurologic issues lasted for about two years after the initial incident. To get Tuffy stable, we called our local veterinarian (one of two vet offices) in town. They worked with us every day, or every other day for months to help us rehab and get Tuffy neurologically sound. He also addressed the possible need to euthanize Tuffy if rehabilitation didn’t work (a tough conversation to hear and consider). We implemented alternative therapies to seek the most effective treatment for helping Tuffy. I got to start using hand-held laser therapy, delivering different natural remedies and medications, and applying bodywork (nerve and muscle releases) on him. I did this all while the local large-animal veterinarian would oversee, and/or help, how I was treating Tuffy. Over time, these treatments worked and Tuffy got better. Although even after two years, he still has some issues when under saddle (his left lead is challenging to pick up). Previously, I never had or was able to, work with a neurologically-impaired animal. At the beginning of the road to recovery, it was frightening. Despite how scary it was, I gained insight and understanding of why vets are critical to have when dealing with an animal - without our veterinarian’s years of experience and insights Tuffy would not have recovered as much as he has. Having, and working with Tuffy’s situation my passion for pursuing veterinary science increased exponentially. I not only realized how important vets and veterinary techs are for having healthy animals, I came to the whole-hearted conclusion that I wanted to be a large-animal veterinarian. At the moment, I am planning to attend Mount Marty University to obtain my undergraduate in Pre-Vet so I can pursue this passion and make it a reality to be a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). Ultimately, if Tuffy did not end up crashing into the run-in, I do not think I would have been pushed to fully pursue an education in veterinary sciences. Rather, I still would be on the fence about whether to pursue a veterinary career or look into an oncology career for people.

In the pasture, a 5’2” female is feeding treats to her horses with her tabby cat sitting on the fence rail watching… Hey, that’s me! Hi, I’m Carlee! I am 17 years old and a senior in high school. I will graduate with a Biology AA degree through Running Start and my high school diploma. I decided to pursue an associate’s degree this early in my school journey so I could include other courses or studies that would help my goal of becoming a veterinarian. I enjoy reading, drawing, and working/chilling with my animals! My parents and I collectively own 5 horses, 2 dogs, 4 cats, and 11 chickens. I technically “own” one mare whose name is Nifty. I also “own” 2 cats, one male named Chompers, and one female named Tigger. I previously had one other cat, named Bubba. He sadly passed away from a cancerous tumor in his digestive tract a little less than a year ago now. I also do archery as a sport! I have won several competitions in archery. Previously I competed in reining with Nifty, but due to moving to an area where reining isn’t practiced, I haven’t been able to compete as much in that sport. I also am part of the Centerville Grange and serve as the Secretary. I have held that position for about 2 years now. I also was the Secretary in my local 4-H groups, in both the archery and horse group. It may be apparent from my intro, but my favorite animal is the horse. Specifically my horse Nifty. I grew up around horses in general and still deal with them every day. Initially, my favorite animal was the cat because “they were fluffy”. As time went on, I began to admire horses for their strength, kindness, gentleness, and nimbleness. (Alongside being adorable.) When my parents were able to buy Nifty from a long-time family friend, I fell in love with her right off the bat. She was so sweet and gentle, and still is to this day just with a bit more sass to her. Over the years, I have been able to work with more and more different types of animals. From cats to dogs, horses to cows, guinea pigs to rabbits, and a couple more. I have helped train some, take care of and watch them for others, and be with my animals in everyday life. I have also been around plenty of hurt/injured animals. For example: one of my horses, Tuffy (a 10-year-old gelding), decided to run around a corner in severely icey conditions and go head-first into a run-in. He landed after impact with his head twisted and completely under his body. He showed signs of neurologic issues afterward, and it took months of me, my family, and our local vet clinic to get him back to a semi-usual state. My interactions with animals and everything I have experienced have influenced my choice to pursue a veterinary career - it fascinates me. It was (and still is) interesting how different animals have different care needs, alongside what different issues may arise. These experiences have also created a passion in me to help them stay safe and healthy in the short, and long run. Having been in situations where an animal is hurt or dying made me realize that I don’t want to see other people go through that same situation without someone who could potentially, even in the smallest manner, help them and their beloved pet/animal.