My uncle and brother both attended a vocational high school and graduated with the skills needed to start their careers without going on to higher education. I feel trades are very important in today's world. Not everyone is cut out for college. I feel trade schools give more of a hands on approach to learning. They also focus mainly on learning the job skills needed to be successful. I plan on attending Johnson College in Scranton Pennsylvania. They offer a Vet Tech program, which is what my goal is. I enjoy working with animals. I currently work at my local veterinarian hospital part time and I also work part time at a local pet groomer. There i get to interact and help care for different types of animals while getting hands on experience. I enjoy the hands on learning which is why I have chosen to apply to Johnson College, which is a trade school. I have looked into this school for a few years now and I feel it will be a good place for me to further my education. My high school, central columbia in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania offers a pathways program in animal science. I have been participating in this pathway for the last few years. I have learned a lot and much of it is hands on just like at a trade school. Last year we raised a bull calf. I helped to bottle feed it, maintain its living area by cleaning it stall, made sure it had access to clean water and food once it was weaned off the bottle. We even castrated it. We also cared for a mini horse. I helped keep its stall clean, provided it with clean water and food, and helped keep it groomed. We also kept rabbits. We bred them and I was able to adopt and bring home one of the babies when it was old enough to be removed from its mother. The animal science pathway at my high school made me realize that a vocational trade school would be the right type of school for me. I look forward to attending and getting a hands on approach to learning. I want to get my certification this way instead of attending a regular college. I seem to be more of a hands on visual learner and a trade school provides more of that type of learning environment. Thank you for taking the time to read my essay and thank you for considering me for yiur scholarship.

My love of animals started at a young age. We always had pets at home and growing up in a rural community made all sorts of farm animals accessible to our family. We currently have 2 dogs, a guinea pig and a bunny. One of our dogs , gunner, is a coonhound mix that we adopted from our local aspca. He was pulled from a high kill shelter in Texas. Although he is quite a handful we love him lots. The bunny I have was purchased from my high school from my animal science class which I was a part of last year. In that class we learned about rabbit anatomy and we had the opportunity to breed the rabbits. I fell in love with taking care of the rabbits and watching them grow. With permission from my parents I was able to adopt one of the bunnies from the litter and he is now my little buddy. I am amazed at how smart they are and how easily he learns. He has learned to use a little pan and he plays with appropriate toys for a rabbit. While I took part in this class I also had responsibilities such as cleaning and feeding the guinea pig, cleaning and feeding the mini horse and bottle feeding and cleaning up after the calf we raised. It was a great class where I learned a lot of information which I will be able to take with me after I graduate. We learned the anatomy of the animals, how different body systems work and what they do. We learned how to properly take care of all the animals and how they breed and their life cycles. We even participated in castration of the bull calf. My love for caring for animals has carried over to two wonderful co-op jobs in animal fields. I am currently working part-time at my local veterinarian Hospital, Bloom Vets. It is located in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania. My job tasks currently include helping at the front desk, greeting customers, helping ease their worries, escorting the patients to the exam rooms, assisting the veterinarians in exams and other tasks. I really enjoy working there and hope to be able to make a difference in the lives of many pets and their owners. I also have another part time job at a local pet groomers, Lily's house located in Berwick Pennsylvania. Here i greet customers and set up appointments. I check them out when they are finished. I also do nail trimming and bath and blow dry the dogs. I enjoy meeting all of the customers and making them feel their best. Between working the two jobs and having my own animals at home I get to spend lots of time doing what I love which is making a difference in the lives of animals. I am looking forward to learning all I can and furthering my education to be able to make a difference in our world of animals. I am very interested in becoming a veterinarian technician to start and possibly furthering my education after that. In the small area that I currently live and that I grew up in we are definitely lacking resources for veterinarian medicine. We only have the Bloom Vet hospital and one other part time veterinarian office close by. Other than that it is a 45 min drive to find another veterinarian. I am an advocate for bringing this lack of resources to light and I am passionate about educating the public about the lack of these resources in my area. We are fortunate to have a tractor supply store close by and they do have a traveling veterinarian who provides more basic low cost services such as routine vaccinations , which is a big help to us all. They can be found there every Sunday for a few hours, but get there early because the line is long. That shows me the immediate need in my home area for more resources and more affordable options. With all this being said I have my heart set on attending Johnson College in Scranton Pennsylvania. It is a two year vocational school where I will be able to attain and education in veterinary nursing and become a Certified Vet Tech to help make a difference in our world. Thank you for taking the time to read my essay!