My name is Lainey McAlexander and I have just finished my freshman year at New Mexico State University with a 3.8 GPA toward my BBA in Business Management with a concentration in small business and entrepreneurship. After my BBA is completed, my intention is to move on to study for a Masters of Business Administration program. It has been my dream to be independent through business ownership and help the community simultaneously. Long term, I want to open my own animal shelter or improve the conditions of animal shelters. Since I was young, my family has always adopted dogs from shelters, because my parents wanted to help the dogs in need. I had seen these shelters as a place where animals go to stay comfortable while waiting for their forever homes. Now, I see the sad conditions that these animals are confined to. My eyes opened even more through an internship with a local animal shelter last summer when I saw that the staff would scare the animals into doing what they wanted because of their breed. Every animal is different with their own personality and challenges, just like me. My goal is to change this and create an environment where animals can be taken care of while waiting to find their forever homes. Creating an environment for animals to be safe and understood, just like what my teachers have done with me through my challenges. My educational journey has been challenging as I have had anxiety my entire life. I was diagnosed with general and social anxiety, ADHD, and borderline Dyslexia in elementary school. My conditions made it difficult to learn course materials as well as making friends with kids my age. Further, it made it even more challenging to practice and retain the skills I was taught in the classroom. I was so afraid to raise my hand to ask for help, or even asking to use the bathroom. I was so scared of talking to people that I would go whole school days without water or using the bathroom. In elementary school, I was eventually placed in special education under an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) to aid with my learning deficiencies. Through exceptional teachers and cognitive therapy, I was able to use the skills I had learned, to exit the special education program and the IEP process to enter middle school with a 504 plan. Through this plan, I learned how to advocate for myself, understand the differences I have in my learning style, and thrive as a student. It took a lot of studying, practice, and tutoring but I was able to get accepted into an International Baccalaureate school as well as AP Level classes toward the end of my high school career. I was able to graduate High School with a 4.116 GPA. Although my disabilities persist, I continue to work through these challenges to achieve my goals. Receiving this scholarship would really help me focus on my studies, and how I can apply them to improving our community instead of worrying about my financial situation.

My name is Lainey McAlexander and I will be a sophomore at New Mexico State University this coming fall. At NMSU I am studying small business and entrepreneurship. My goal in life is to own and or operate my own animal shelter. Owning my own business has been a dream of mine since I was young. I did not realize what kind of business I wanted until I was old enough to realize that shelters need to change for the better. Since I was little, my family has always adopted dogs from shelters, because my parents wanted to help the dogs in need. I had seen these shelters as a place where animals go to stay comfortable while waiting for their forever homes. Now, I see the sad conditions that these animals are confined to. I realized this when we adopted my recent dog, Ziggy, who is a Pitbull. As you may or may not know these larger breeds or breeds of Pitbull are constantly seen as dangerous or aggressive. They controlled him with spray bottles and cans of air, basically scaring him into doing what they wanted. I know that there are better ways to control animals' behaviors and help them get adopted to their permanent homes. I want to be a part of that change in making them comfortable and safe in the shelters. Animals deserve to be happy and safe just as much as we do. They should not have to suffer on the streets when there is a home waiting for them. This inspired me to pursue my higher education in small business and entrepreneurship. The summer that I graduated I was an intern at the Bernalillo County Animal Care and Services in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I saw the struggles that animals have along with the struggles of the workers there. One of the main issues that I saw was the lack of space for all of the incoming animals. I want to be a part of making the lives of animals better. I want to help the community by sheltering lost and abandoned animals as their forever families search for them. Not only that I want to help other shelters in need whether it's financially or dealing with facility issues. It has been my dream since I was young to help animals in more ways than I can think of. I have always loved the idea of working with animals and helping the animals in need. By receiving this scholarship will help me worry less about financial stress and focus more on my studies.

My name is Lainey McAlexander and I have had anxiety my whole life. I was diagnosed with general and social anxiety since I was in elementary school. It made it difficult to connect and make friends with kids my age and even made it harder to learn course materials. Along with my anxiety diagnosis, I was diagnosed with ADHD and borderline Dyslexia. This made it even harder to practice and retain the skills I was taught in school. I remember being so afraid to raise my hand to ask for help or clarification or even asking to use the bathroom. I was so scared of talking to people who I didn’t know that sometimes I would go whole school days without water or using the bathroom. I was always very nervous. With this combination of mental disorders I was placed in special education for help in my special way of learning. Since my diagnosis I have learned to control my ADHD and anxiety. I was able to work hard and lift myself out of special education in sixth grade. This was a huge accomplishment because it helped me prove to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to, even if I have to take a different approach to it. Of course, I still have these conditions. I have learned preferred ways of communication with professors and teachers. I remember in high school we were doing debates in my government class. I was so anxious and nervous about talking in front of such a big class that I ended up having a panic attack. In this case, I had to gather the courage to get up and tell my teacher what was going on. Learning how to advocate for myself was a very hard challenge especially when my parents were not around. For college, I had to discuss and talk to the disability access services to get the accommodations that I needed. It was a very scary process, but I was able to work through it so that I can do my very best in college. I have also learned how to talk to people while working in customer service for a few years. I was granted the opportunity to be a part of the Bernalillo County Internship where I worked at the front desk of the Bernalillo County Animal Care and Services. Here I learned about what it takes to own a shelter and the effort that it takes to take care of animals, while helping customers find their new or lost pets. It was a very hard job, for me because I was one of the first faces that you see when you walk in. I had to direct people and help them based on their unique needs. Talking to strangers or people I do not know very well is especially difficult to me because sometimes I would have to go to the people who worked at the front desk and ask for help. Currently, I am a freshman in college at New Mexico State University. I am pursuing my dreams of owning a business by studying small business and entrepreneurship. My ultimate goal is to own or manage an animal shelter. I am wanting to achieve this goal of mine, because it continues to prove to me and to others that despite my learning disabilities I can still do what everyone else can do, and much more. So far, I am absolutely loving college. I have been able to meet new people and succeed in classes despite my disorders. College is different from high school, so I have had to re-learn how to manage my anxiety with all of the course work and difficult professors. I wish to continue learning how to succeed in the different classes that I will be taking throughout my path to obtain my degree. I am excited and of course scared to see how I am able to work with my anxiety to obtain the knowledge that I desire.

My name is Lainey McAlexander and I have had anxiety my whole life. I was diagnosed with general and social anxiety since I was in elementary school. It made it difficult to connect and make friends with kids my age and made it harder to learn course materials. Along with my anxiety diagnosis, I was diagnosed with ADHD and borderline Dyslexia. This made it harder to practice and retain the skills I was taught in school. I remember being so afraid to raise my hand to ask for help, clarification, or even asking to use the bathroom. I was so scared of talking to people who I didn’t know that sometimes I would go whole school days without water or using the bathrooms. With this combination of mental disorders I was placed in special education for help in my way of learning. Since my diagnosis I have learned to control my ADHD and anxiety. I was able to work hard and lift myself out of special education in sixth grade. This was a huge accomplishment because I proved to myself that I can do anything I put my mind to, even if I have to do it differently. Of course, I still have these conditions. I have learned preferred ways of communication with my educators. I remember in high school we were doing debates in government class. I was so anxious about talking in front of such a big class that I had a panic attack. I had to gather the courage to get up and tell my teacher what was going on. Learning how to advocate for myself was a difficult challenge especially without help. For college, I had to discuss and talk to the disability access services to get the accommodations that I needed. It was a scary process, but I was able to work through it so that I can excel in class. I have learned how to talk to people while working in customer service for a few years. I was granted the opportunity to be a part of the Bernalillo County Internship where I worked at the front desk of the Bernalillo County Animal Care and Services. I learned about what it takes to own a shelter and the effort that it takes to take care of animals. It was a very hard job, for me because I was one of the first faces that you see when you walk in. I had to direct people based on their unique needs. Talking to strangers or people I don't know well is especially difficult to me. Currently, I am a freshman in college at New Mexico State University. I am pursuing my dreams of owning a business by studying small business and entrepreneurship. My ultimate goal is to own or manage an animal shelter. I am wanting to achieve this goal of mine, because it continues to prove to me and to others that despite my learning disabilities I can still do what I put my mind to. So far, I am absolutely loving college. I have been able to meet new people and succeed in classes despite my disorders. College is different from high school, so I have had to re-learn how to manage my anxiety with all of the course work and difficult professors. I wish to continue learning how to succeed in the different classes that I will be taking throughout my path to obtain my degree. I am excited and of course scared to see how I am able to work with my anxiety to obtain the knowledge that I desire.