Dr. Howard Hochman Zoological Scholarship

Just like any other kid, the thing I wanted most growing up was a pet. I was dedicated to getting my parents to finally approve of a pet, but unfortunately, that time never came. Instead, I grew up in the backyard playing with the toads and observing the insects. They were the closest things I had to pets. Then one day in elementary school, I received the assignment to bring in insects for a plastic bottle terrarium project. I was so over the moon that I would bring a cup to my bus stop every day in case I found any cool bugs. On the last day, I found a slug, but I had forgotten my cup at home. Without thinking, I picked it up in my bare hands and held it until we reached school. Many of the kids were grossed out by the slug, but I thought it was adorable. My whole life I’ve never been a people person. I always connected with animals much better. This slug was no exception. After graduating from college, I aspire to work in conservation and rehabilitation for a few years. I am a human-animal studies and biology double major. I believe that the combination of them will allow me to both understand how animals function from a biological perspective, and how they change based on human impact. Ideally, I will go back to school to get a Ph.D. in zoology after a few years of working in the field. After getting a Ph.D., I would love to do research on the effects of human activity on wildlife. I have not yet narrowed down my interest to a specific species or category of animals, but I hope my years working in the field after college will help me narrow down my very long list of interests. Conservation and rehabilitation have always been an interest of mine. Growing up, I always wanted to take every injured animal home to take care of it. My interest in rehabilitation started when we found an abandoned robin egg. My family brought it inside to hatch under a heat lamp and then took care of the fledgling until it was ready to fend for itself. I was always so happy that I saved the robin even if it was just one bird. I would love to do this on a larger scale and with more vulnerable species. Rehabilitating more vulnerable species is especially important because individuals need to live at least until they reach sexual maturity so that a new generation can be born. This generation can then live on to reproduce as well and restore the population. My research will also provide insight into how we need to change our behaviors to accommodate and protect wildlife. I want to make sure that we have the knowledge available to us so that we can improve life for the animals that cohabitate the world.

I possess an interest in and compassion for animals that first stemmed when I was an infant. My mom would take me to the dog park as I could not play with other children indoors due to my fragile condition. I was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, meaning my heart was missing the left ventricle. As I grew up, I had palliative surgeries and eventually a heart transplant; being in the hospital gave me an understanding of medicine from a patient perspective. It also allowed me to appreciate the company therapy dogs would bring during their visits. In my Kindergarten year, I would check out a book about dogs at the library every week. I knew then that I wanted to be a veterinarian, even though I had not yet realized what that would entail. However, as I grew up, I realized the heavy workload would be worth the time and effort. When I was nine years old, I created a Girl Scout badge about Pet Rescue, where my troop helped out at an animal shelter. We did not expect to be doing the amount of work we did, as we did much physical manual labor. Part of this badge included a pamphlet on how to care for and approach dogs properly. Recently, I started job shadowing at a local vet clinic. I am not allowed to perform examinations as I am under 18, but I observed the procedures and comforted the pets and their families during visits. As a veterinarian, I plan to positively impact the animal world by discovering effective treatments and cures for serious diseases that animals face. Finding treatments for animals will open up possibilities for treatments of similar conditions in humans. For example, osteosarcoma is a bone cancer that is ten times more common in dogs than humans, allowing researchers to focus on the canine variant of the disease. The information learned about canine osteosarcoma can then be used for research in human osteosarcoma, "Bone cancer in dogs also bears many similarities to human osteosarcoma, making it ideal for translational research." [Osteosarcoma Institute, 2022]. I am planning to major in biology so I can study veterinary medicine. This would involve providing animals with medical care. I chose this path because of my love for animals and my positive experiences while receiving medical care in the hospital and throughout life. Combining both areas of interest will allow me to show appreciation for the two motivators in my life.