Hi, my name is frankie bettiga and I love animals. One of my favorite things to do is walk around my small town and help the animals in need. That might be a dog that got out and needs help finding its way back home, or maybe a squirrel that got left behind by its mother and is only a week or so old. So many animals need our help and that starts within our community. My first reason for pursuing a career in the veterinarian field is growing up with dogs. That may seem like not a super big deal, I mean a lot of people grow up with dogs right? Well my story is a little different. For as long as I can remember we had about 4 stud males, and about 6 female dogs and a litter of puppies. At one time we had 3 litters of puppies at once. We had a family dog breeding business called Left Coast Russels, so I grew up learning everything about dogs from a young age. Learning how to care from them since birth, especially the ones that wouldn’t make it without intensive care. But I am proud to say we never lost a puppy Growing up around those animals made me want pursue a career in that field. I always felt like I connected with them on another level rather than with humans. I’ve always found joy in the challenges that it can be sometimes trying to get them to feel comfortable around you. For example, if an animal came in from a person who abused them and this animal has never felt love, I love getting to be the one to show them how that feels. My actual reasoning are kind of difficult to explain. Its almost like a feeling. In my heart I know that I’m supposed to be pursuing this career. I may not have a ton of experience yet of extensive and perfect reasons to why exactly I want to do this, but I have never felt about something in the way I feel about this. And I know that no matter what this will be what I do. That is my reasons for wanting to be a veterinarian, and applying for this scholarship. thank you for you time, frankie bettiga

I believe that being humans with the power we have we need to do good. In my mind that has everything to do with our furry or four-legged friends. I’ve grown up around a lot animals my whole life and have developed a passion for caring for them. I’ve seen animals go from being left behind and un cared for grow into a healthy and happy animal. Seeing it with my own eyes from animals as small as a squirrel to our dogs, is what really drove the passion for me. I believe that we need to put an end to animal cruelty. We are given so much more as humans. We are able to advocate and stand up for our selves. They have to rely on us for advocation. Animal cruelty is a huge problem all over the world today. Like a previously said they can’t advocate for themselves, so who’s going to if we don’t? Long term for me, my goal is to become a veterinarian. It’s gonna take a lot of schooling and volunteer work, but I think that doing what you love makes that all worth while. I love to advocate for animals, even for myself. It brings me a kind of inner peace and warm feeling. That is joy and compassion, for those good deeds you are doing. They aren’t required, it’s not a law you have to be an animal advocate. It’s a choice. That is why you get that warm, fuzzy feeling, that’s why you hear people saying thank you and applauding you for what your doing. That’s because people know how animals are treated, they aren’t as oblivious as they may seem. Some people are the ones treating these animals so poorly, and some just don’t have the time to do so That’s another reason I do what I do. These animals need caring for, so who better then us of whom are passionate about it then us. That is why I’m applying for this scholarship. I want to be able to take this thing that has been a hobby my whole life and turn it into something I can do as a career. Spending your whole life helping animals seems like a pretty good life to me. So that is why I am so passionate about animals advocacy. Because I believe we need to be there for the unspoken. thank you for your time and consideration, Frankie Bettiga

My agricultural teacher. He has not only made a huge impact on my life, but also been supportive of all my goals and dreams. He pushes me to be the best version of my self and get what I want in life. He finds me opportunities in the field of work i’m striving for. He also always makes sure I’m in the group for competitions in FFA that he thinks will be beneficial for me. He will go talk to my other teachers with me if they are treating me poorly. He is always down to stay after school to help me with my homework if I need it. He sacrifices the most for students out of everyone I know. He is a huge inspiration with all the different things he does from working a full teacher schedule, to competitions, and even getting up at the crack of dawn to go to the barn. He spends so much time at the barns making sure all of the FFA animals are taken care of in case the kids forget to go feed, or even muck their pens. He always finds the kids at our school summer jobs when they are in need of it. He also is a huge advocate for helping us find scholarships. And being one of the kindest souls I know is always buying supplies for his whole classes. When time for our parliamentary procedure competition roles around his wife gets up very early to make us something for breakfast, wether it’s her all famous almond twists or some breakfast burrito she is a blessing. She gets it to the school by 6:30 a.m so that we can be well fed and get to business before school starts. My ag teacher also will bring in fresh bread and jam everyday, and supplies a toaster, for kids to eat. And will also have pancake days where he cracks out the griddle, and so often brings in extra snacks. And that’s for all the students. He’s always pushing me to my limits to make sure i’m getting the best I possibly can out of my education. Making me try new things and going out of my comfort zone so that’s I can become a really well rounded person and grow as an individual. presenting me with the best possible opportunity and giving me everything I need to succeed Thank you for your time, Frankie

Never take a loan. By taking a loan you are putting yourself in debt, which is basically digging a hole and throwing yourself into it. Now your stuck trying to figure a way out. You are basically committing your life possibly your children’s lives to something that you don’t know if your gonna be able to fulfill. The children’s lives come in if something happens to you if you are not able to fulfill the debt before you pass. And adding on to that, credit cards. To me that is a form of a loan. You are spending money you don’t currently have, meaning if something happens unexpectedly you are stuck in dept. So, as a whole, the greatest piece of advice I have been given is “don’t spend money you don’t have”. Wether that be taking a loan, or using a credit card, don’t do it. Because in doing that you are just setting yourself up for failure.

Well, definitely not good enough. People always talk themselves up saying how great they are, but we can all be better. I volunteer at my church in the kids ministry. I help the people around me who are struggling in their classes. Maybe pick up some trash I see on the sidewalk that I find when taking my dogs for a walk. I am apart of a national organization called the FFA, and in my chapter we are always looking for new ways to serve in our community. Every year we have a calendar of various events to achieve including a lunch to appreciate our teachers, a local greenhouse, a few days spent teaching younger kids about FFA, and a whole lot of community service hours. To achieve a higher degree in FFA you have to complete a list of tasks, one of them including community service hours of different amounts. And I might add the line in our motto which states “living to serve”, so that is what we strive to do everyday. Now I could go on depicting every thing I do to help those in my community and stating how I’m perfect and deserve to win this, but honestly I don’t. I may try my absolute best and work as I can, but it will never be perfect or enough. thank you, frankie bettiga