My name is Lily Wiechman, and I am a high school senior who will be entering a pre-veterinary program this fall. I grew up with many pets. My family has always had dogs, cats, fish, chickens, and rabbits, and over the past four years, we've expanded into sheep, goats, pigs, and parakeets. Additionally, I've worked on a dairy farm since I got my driver's license on my sixteenth birthday. One of my favorite parts of owning so many animals is showing them in 4-H. I've been a member of the Pelican Peak 4-H club since second grade in which I've shown rabbits, poultry, and sheep. My favorite species to show is my bantam buff brahma chickens which I've taken to the Minnesota State Fair three times. I like this species because the Stearns County Fair has a very competitive and supportive poultry community with many learning opportunities including the poultry knowledge bowl team which I competed on until the fall of 2022 when my team won second place at the national competition. The poultry project first got me interested in veterinary work because it exposed me to a local veterinarian named Tom Czeck. His clinic hosted our team for knowledge bowl practice, and he was usually the one to do mandatory pre-show tests on our birds. I am interested in how the human body works as I think it is one of the most impressive pieces of God's creation, but becoming a doctor and working in a hospital doesn't appeal to me. Being a large animal veterinarian would allow me to pursue my medical interests while also allowing me to work outside and with animals that I love to be around. My favorite animal is an alpine goat. I used to have a beautiful female named Edelweiss or Ada for short and I loved her curious nature. She climbed on everything as most goats do and loved attention. She was always alert and playful, seeming to enjoy her environment. I loved to watch her as she would explore and nibble when I let her out of her pen and I could always count on her to allow herself to be led back. Ada is the reason I want to become a large animal instead of a small animal veterinarian. As much as I love cats and dogs, I can appreciate livestock because of the work they do for people and thanks to animals like Ada, I've learned that they have their unique personalities as pets do. I would prefer to help the animals who provide for me. I have spent a lot of time around animals, discovering their personalities and observing their behaviors. I want to continue learning about them and spend my career working with their owners to keep them healthy and happy as a large animal veterinarian.