Hello! My name is Makella! My plan for the future is to attend OSU’s school of Veterinary Medicine. I have forever dreamed of being a Veterinarian. For the past 4 years I have been a Veterinary Assistant for a small animal clinic. I adore every aspect of my job. I am fully trained in drawing blood from cephalic vein and jugular veins on both cats and dogs. I can place IV catheters, take radiographs, run bloodwork, examine ear cytology’s and intestinal parasite screenings. I love getting to see patients walk in the door sick and walk out with wagging tails. I love seeing owners come visit their sick patients and loving on them and seeing my patient light up when their owners open their kennel door. I love getting puppy kisses and purrs from kittens. I love getting attached in a different way to so many animals and watching them grow up. I love growing closer with many people in my community through their animals. I am making connections and establishing relationships with people throughout my community every single day. I love knowing that I am making an impact on each of their lives. And although it is sad, I love getting to help my elderly patients cross over the rainbow bridge peacefully and comfortably. I love being able to make a connection with them, and provide them care all the way through their lives. Although I am young through the people around me, I have been able to exceed at my job. I have patients who will ask specifically to see me. I have gotten to play huge roles in saving the lives of some of my dearest patients. And although there are many many days where I want to say I am done with Veterinary Medicine, all I have to do is remember one of the patients I would be leaving behind and I could never leave them. I could never see myself doing anything besides providing care and giving a voice to those who do not have one. I will continue to advocate for them. The person who has impacted my life the most is my boss Dr. Rollins. She gave me a job as a kennel technician at 15 years old. I was a kennel tech for a short 8 months before she saw my potential and moved me into the assistant position I am in today. She taught me and gave me the thing I love most in this world, my job. She gave me the thing I look forward to doing everyday. She helped me find my calling. She pushed me everyday to continue learning, to get better, to try new things and got me out of my comfort zone. 5 years ago I would’ve never been able to go into a room and speak to a complete stranger about their dogs health. Now, I do it 30 times a day. Without her giving me this opportunity and taking a chance on me, I would’ve never been able to understand just how much I am capable of. I will forever be grateful for the things she has done for me. I cannot wait to care for animals everyday for the rest of my life!

Hello! My name is Makella Vogt, I have been a Vet Assistant for 4 years and I am in college studying biology as a Pre-Vet. I chose to study Veterinary Medicine because of my love for animals. I go to work everyday excited for what animals I will be able to provide care for. I absolutely adore educating clients on the importance of vaccinations, preventatives, yearly blood work and more. I love seeing my hospitalized patients who came in incredibly sick, going home wagging their tails and running and jumping. I have chosen to study veterinary medicine so I can continue to do what I absolutely love doing but at a higher level. I hope to continue treating animals with the absolute best care possible with my education. Veterinary medicine has a hold on my heart for several years. There is nothing that I would rather do than devote my life to the wellbeing of the animals in my community. Just recently, I organized the largest adoption event my town has ever seen. My local shelter brought some cats and dogs, as well as several shelters and rescues in town. We had a great turnout. I also have began managing a cat rescue in my town. I did not realize until I started managing this rescue just how bad the overpopulation of cats are in my town. Once I learned just how bad it was, I began getting a plan set in stone so in the next month we can began doing “TNR”. TNR is “Trap- Neuter-Release”. With my education in veterinary medicine, this is something that I would like to meet head on. There is an over population of all animals over the entire United States at this time. Shelters are full and so are rescuers due to the ignorance of owners and them not spaying and neutering their pets. With my education I would love to better inform the public about the importance of spaying and neutering pets and adopting from shelters. I am incredibly lucky to already have so much experience into the world of Veterinary Medicine. Working in Veterinary Medicine has been a dream of mine since I was little. The fact that I have been a Vet Assistant for 4 years would baffle my younger self. Seeing patients walk in the door is one of my favorite parts of the day. Seeing them walking out and feeling much better than when they came in makes my life whole. I cannot wait to spend the rest of my life giving the best possible care to every patient.

Hello! My name is Makella and I believe I am unique because I have 4 years already under my belt of experience in Veterinary Medicine. I have been a Vet Assistant for almost 4 years now and I am just a freshman in college. I have pushed myself very hard into learning anything and everything I can all the time. I collect blood samples, take vitals, run labs, place IV catheters and much more. I continue to grow in knowledge with each year and that comes and goes. I am so in love with getting to work with my community every day. I love getting to know them and making a name for myself at a young age in my hometown. I plan to give back to my community by going to Vet School and giving their pets the best care possible. The babies we see daily deserve nothing less than the best and most adequate care we can provide them with. One large issue in my community is stray animals. I have always had a heart for strays and getting them off the streets. And although we do have an animal shelter here, it is always at maximum capacity. I would love to eventually open my animal shelter with a larger amount of space and work with several rescues to clear the streets where I am to better help and serve the community. With the knowledge I have now, I am confident that I will be able to make a difference in some way. I know that I am making a difference now in the current position I am in. I have assisted in many cases where I was giving medication to an animal for several hours at a time just to make sure the patient stayed alive. There have been several nights that I have seen emergencies at midnight and been at the clinic until one in the morning helping save an injured animal. Even just the animals we see for just simple vaccinations are helping make an impact on my community. We are helping prevent the spread of rabies and other diseases and we are keeping the animals of the community safe and healthy. I have several clients that will ask for me when they make appointments for their animals and that is a huge indicator for me that I have made a difference in their life because they want me to see their pets. And that warms my heart every time, especially on the hard days. There are so many days that people will never know about that we have to go through every day in veterinary medicine. The worst that I have run into is when we have seen a patient countless times for an illness that we just cannot seem to fight off. When we have tried every single medication that we have and when we special order medications and diets and still no change and every time we have to walk into the room and tell their owner that we still do not have any improvement. Those times are hard but I would never change what I do. I love serving the 4 legged friends in my community.

Hello! I have been a Vet Assistant at a small animal practice for 3 and a half years. I am in college now for my basics but I would like to go to Vet School and once I graduate, practice on small animals and large animals. I lived on a farm when I was younger and I absolutely adored it, we had everything from chickens to pigs to turkeys and ducks to cows. I adore cows and pigs. They are the sweetest animals and they are so smart. Our first pig was a female named Dixie, she was completely potty trained. She would go to the back door and "yell" til someone let her out too potty. She loved any and all treats and would follow you at your heal. She came every single time we would call her, and you could hear her talking as she came running to you. She was so perfect. I am most excited to learn about cows in large animal medicine. When we had the cows, I was pretty young so I do not remember a lot about them but I have been around other cows enough to know that I do want to learn how the medical side to them. I have assisted in numerous feline and canine c-sections but one birth I want to be apart of more than anything is a cow birth. I want to be the one there, if anything goes wrong and help pull the baby out. I also am so curious to see how blood draws are done on cows. In canines generally we draw from a cephalic vein or a jugular, so I am very curious if they draw from a certain leg or if they have to be sedated for a blood draw. There is a large shortage of large animal veterinarians. Where I am from, there is only one, the rest are all small animal practices. While small animal veterinarians are just as important, the large animal side has really taken a toll in the recent years. Really, veterinary medicine as a whole has seemed to take a large hit since COVID came around. I hope to do my part and increase the number of large and small animal veterinarians in my state. I hope to give the best care to my patients, helping every one that I can. I hope to be the voice for these voiceless, 4 legged( and sometimes 3 legged), furry friends that we all love.

The most helpful piece of financial advice that I have ever received was, do not spend money that you do not have. And for me, there were a few ways to perceive this information. At first, I looked at that as I can spend my money but, I do not want to go into a negative account balance. Which was true, but the way that I look at it now has helped me save so much more money. I like to, in my mind, make mental notes of any and everything that I may need in the next week or so. Whether that be groceries, food, or gas, I like to take mental note of that so I do not overspend my money and not have enough in the bank to pay for the things I need. So, by taking that into account and subtracting that from my current balance I then make sure that I will still have, at the very least, $100 in my bank account after I get the things I need. And if the necessities that I need to buy take up the budget that week, then that's, that is all I allow myself to spend that week. While this is hard sometimes because I am still a kid and there are tons of things that I want to go do, I know that this will help me in the future when I go off to college and I am unable to work as much as I am used to being able to work. It will pay off in the end!

There are so many things that make me happy but, the one of the main things that makes me happy is my job. I work as a vet assistant at Arlington Animal Clinic. I have worked there for almost three years and it has brought me the most happiness. I love getting to care for the patients we see, even through the worst parts. I love getting to be apart in restoring their lives to what it was before or helping prevent them from ever getting sick. My job consists of lots of different aspects of Veterinary Medicine, during the week I work in what we call “rooms”? Any appointments we have or walk-ins I am the assistant that you will see. I take vitals of the patients and then get the supplies ready that we need for that particular appointment. I am trained in jugular and leg blood draws and can run the blood work that is needed. I can fill medications and put in charges and make notes on the patients I see. Another aspect of my job that brings me so much happiness is treating our in house patients. Whether it is giving them their oral medications or setting up their IV fluids, it brings me so much happiness knowing that I am helping getting them on the track of getting better and going home. There are so many more aspects to my position but these are the ones that stand out most to me and make me the happiest!

“ Tell your story, impact lives, and change the world”- unknown. This quote is a quote that I strive to live towards in my everyday life. Positivity and kindness are rare attributes in the people around us. Living to make a positive impact on this world and the others around us is what we should all be doing. My dream future career is to become a Veterinarian. While this seems to be a career that lots of teenagers and young adults claim to want, my desire is deeper than the majority. I have spent the past almost 3 years of my life gaining knowledge and experience in the Veterinary Medicine field so I am prepared for the career and the schooling ahead of me. This career would allow me to make a positive impact on the community that I would provide the best possible care for. While this would not make a positive impact on the entire world, it would make a positive impact in the world of pet owners. Working together and doing our own parts everyday will help make the impact on the world that we all desire. Whether you give advice to a struggling family or a few dollars to the homeless gentleman that you pass on your way to work everyday, you can change their life and cause them to make a positive impact on others around them. How amazing would it be if we began to see a huge chain of positive impacts all around the world, and how much more amazing would it be if it started with us? There are so many reasons why we should be striving everyday to leave positive impacts with the people we come into contact with. Not only will it change their lives but it will also create a more positive environment for yourself. Creating a positive environment allows you to enjoy going to work, rather than hating having to go. Then with that, you have better mental health, which we all know is vitally important in the times that we are living in. I will do my absolute best to make the best possible impact on the lives of the people that I come into contact with. There are ways for each of us to make an impact on the lives of all different kinds of people, and in this way, we can make a positive impact on the world together.

“ Tell your story, impact lives, and change the world”- unknown. This quote is a quote that I strive to live towards in my everyday life. Positivity and kindness are rare attributes in the people around us. Living to make a positive impact on this world and the others around us is what we should all be doing. My dream future career is to become a Veterinarian. While this seems to be a career that lots of teenagers and young adults claim to want, my desire is deeper than the majority. I have spent the past almost 3 years of my life gaining knowledge and experience in the Veterinary Medicine field so I am prepared for the career and the schooling ahead of me. This career would allow me to make a positive impact on the community that I would provide the best possible care for. While this would not make a positive impact on the entire world, it would make a positive impact in the world of pet owners. I will do my absolute best to make the best possible impact on the lives of the people that I come into contact with. There are ways for each of us to make an impact on the lives of all different kinds of people, and in this way, we can make a positive impact on the world together.

My dream life begins with finishing college and having a degree in biology and Veterinary Medicine. Then, I hope to have a well paying job close to my husbands. I want to live on a farm with cattle and horses, as well as small animals such as chickens and pigs and ducks and maybe a few others. I want to live in a larger house with a large porch where I can sit outside and watch the sunrise and sunset. I want to have a large fenced in back yard for all mine and my husbands dogs and for our cat. I would also like to travel, not a lot, but to a few places around the world that we would both love to see while we are still young. I would like to be debt free by the time I am, at the most 35, unless of course it is something small like a car payment, but I hope to quickly pay off any student loans I may need. My dream life, I would say, is not very complex and really is simple. The main thing I want is my husband and I to have jobs we both love and a life that we are happy with together.

Rosa Parks is someone that I have always admired. I remember learning about her for the first time in the fourth grade. We were talking about important women in our history. As I got older they began to share more and more of her story with us. As I learned more, I began to realize how important her and her words are. No. A very famous word uttered by the late Rosa Parks. She refused to give her seat to a white man and made history by saying one word. Think of what the world would be like if we stood up for ourselves everyday or if we spoke our minds and told other people what we believed was right. There would be so much more communication and if we all accepted each other no matter what their beliefs are, we would live in such better harmony. Rosa Parks was not only a hero in her time but a hero to every woman after her. She is the reason that we have rights and part of the reason that African Americans are now seen as equal to everyone else. Rosa sparked a flame that continued to burn until it consumed everything in its' path and overcame every obstacle that they faced. We should strive to live everyday like Rosa did that day that she refused to give up her seat. Without fear and with confidence. Never letting anyone get to us and showing the world that we are worth everything that they are. Do not be scared to say no.

I believe the largest problem the world is facing right now is still COVID-19. More and more variants are brought to the publics knowledge, what seems like, everyday. We are still running around fearing catching this disease. I like to think back to summer when we were gripping being back to a normal world. But then just as the summer ended, the splurge was back in action. The pandemic has not affected me nearly as much as it has most Americans. I do not wear a mask and I will not get vaccinated. I am living my life as I was before. I believe the best way that we can work on this problem is stop being so afraid of this virus. We need to get back to being outside, with no masks, socializing and having fun. Fear has ruined our lives, it has cut out chunks of my high school experience and taken away years of my teenage life that I will never get back. Fear is a liar. We must start facing this problem head on, with no fear of the future. If we do not, I fear that we will never return to even a somewhat normal life.

As Dr. APJ Abdul Kalem puts it, " All of us do not have equal talent. But, all of us have an equal opportunity to develop our talents." For me, my main talent is working with animals and serving my community. Ever since I was little I knew that I wanted to be a veterinarian so you can only imagine how many animals that I wanted growing up. My parents thought that if they gave me the animals I wanted and gave me the responsibility of taking care of them that I would "grow out" of what they thought was a phase. But little did they know, they only fueled my love for animals. We ended up with chickens, pigs, turkeys, ducks, rabbits and of course the dogs and cats. And I loved every second of it. From there, I expanded my skills and got a job at Arlington Animal Clinic. I started out as a Kennel Technician but quickly moved into the position of Vet Assistant. I know draw blood, run bloodwork, take vitals and so much more. The next part of my future that will help me practice my skills will be college. I will be attending the University of Oklahoma to receive my degree in Biology and then I will transfer to Oklahoma State University to study in their Veterinary Medicine program. There has been a lot of time and hard work into developing my talents and skills, and I am so grateful for it.

I have been dreaming about my future since I was little. I have always wanted to be a Veterinarian. I used to live on a farm and that only sparked my want to become a vet even more. When I was 15 I got the job I still currently have at Arlington Animal Clinic. I love my job so much and it has helped me determine my goals for the future. I have recently been accepted into the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. But, I have decided to continue my education at the University of Oklahoma for four years and get my degree in Biology and then I will move to Oklahoma State University to pursue their Veterinary Medicine program so I can become a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and more than likely be a small animal vet in a general practice. But I have also thought about doing large and small animal vet med. They both interest me and as I go through school I think that will help me decide what I want to do or maybe I will practice both in the future. But I am so excited to start on my journey to achieving my dreams.

Empathy is something that I use in my everyday life. I work in the veterinary medicine field and with that, there are lots of times when I have to use empathy with our clients when they are dealing with one of their beloved pets starting to come toward the end of their life. Or when they just do not have the extra money to spend on the surgery that they really need. I have pets and I know exactly what all that feels like. And we treat those pets as our own kids, so when we cannot do the absolute best thing for them it is really hard. So, I use empathy everyday. When I first started it was hard for me but with the past 3 years of experience that I have now and everything that I have learned it has gotten so much easier for me to empathize with our clients and make them feel heard. We want them to know that we understand the pain that they are going through and we will be there with them for it all.

I have very large dreams for my future career. My dream is to become a small animal veterinarian but, I would like to posses the knowledge of a large animal veterinarian as well so that way I can treat my personal large animals. To pursue the career of my dreams I have chosen to study for the first four years of college at the University of Oklahoma where I will receive my degree in Biology. From there I would like to move to Stillwater for a few years and attend Oklahoma State University where I will hopefully join their vet program and study to become a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. I have been working very hard at improving my ACT as much as I can and becoming a better and more driven and focused student this year. There are going to be a large amount of changes in my life this year and I cannot wait to watch them unfold.

There are lots of things that fuel my life, one being my best friend and boyfriend all in one, Brayden. He has been such a blessing to my life. He constantly encourages me and he has completely researched everything for the career I want so that way I can achieve it to the best of my ability, he is a lot of what keeps me going everyday. Another thing that keeps me going is my job. I love my job. I am a Vet Assistant at Arlington Animal Clinic, I have been there for 3 years and although we have lots and lots of busy weeks where we are verbally assaulted and mentally beaten, I would not trade it for the world. We save so many lives and it gives me so much joy to see a patient come in so sick and see them walk out of the clinic all on their own and so happy to be able to go home. And finally one last thing that helps me continue to live my life to the fullest is Christ. He helps give me strength on my weakest days and encouragement on the days that I feel at my lowest. Just taking even five minuets to open up my Bible and read a few verses gives me some added strength to get through my day. I am so thankful to have as many resources as I do to keep me fueled in the path that I am on in my life.

My life has been wild but a good type of wild. Ever since I was a child I knew that I wanted to be a Veterinarian, and for awhile we lived on a far where I had just about every animal that I could have wanted. And that just continued to fuel my passion for animals. Then when I was 15 I got a job at a Vet Clinic and I have been there for almost three years. I am a Vet Assistant and I love my job with my entire soul. From there I have decided that I want to be a small animal veterinarian but I want to have the knowledge of a large animal veterinarian as well so that way I can also treat my cattle in the future. I have been accepted into the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University. I will be continuing my education at the University of Oklahoma for 4 years so I can get my degree in Biology as a pre-vet I will then be moving to Oklahoma State University to pursue their vet program. There have been many driving factors towards what my future will look like and I cannot wait to see how it turns out.

Being brave and bold are two skills that I have been working on more and more here recently. I am a very introverted person and I am not a huge fan of doing things by myself but, this year I have had to become more independent and handle things on my own. One of the few things that I have been working, which I would consider brave because it took lots of courage for me, is traveling around my state for my boyfriends basketball games but I have been going by myself. Driving to unknown places, especially at night, is something that has terrified me but I have been getting better and better at it. But it has taken lots of bravery for me to get up and do it. Being bold is another skill that I have needed some practice on. And I have been doing so in my job. I have been taking on new roles and moving higher up. They have trusted me with lots of responsibilities and I have had to be bold especially with how much I work with the public. These two skills need to be improved in so many teenagers lives. And I hope that they have the resources they need to reach their full potential in all aspects of their lives.

In the world we live in everyone is consumed with themselves. And when we do see selfless acts of kindness we see them on the national news because it is something that rare. That is why I do my best to do as many selfless acts as I can. One selfless act that I think that just about everyone can do that is generally easy is volunteer at their local animal shelter. You can help clean around the shelter or take dogs for walks yet not expect anything in return. It is that last part that keeps people from doing selfless acts. They are more concerned with what is in it for them. But what I have come to find out is that it feels so much better when you do something just out of the kindness of your heart and expect absolutely nothing in return. I especially like to do this around Christmas time. I did do lots of selfless acts this holiday season but I did do one that really stuck out to me. One of my coworkers has really been struggling this year, she is older and her husbands health has been rapidly declining and they just really do not have a lot of money and one thing she loves to do is sow and sell the things she makes. Well, she was just talking to me one day and she was talking about something that she was trying to make but she was unable to because her sowing machine was going out. Well I remembered that and a few weeks later my Mother and I went out and got her a brand new one. The look on her face was something I will never forget. And I expected nothing in return. It was amazing.

I am constantly working towards my goals for the future. I have been pursing my dream of becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine for the past 3 years. I have been working at a Vet Clinic in my hometown as a Vet Assistant. I recently got accepted into the University of Oklahoma where I will be getting my degree in Biology as a Pre-Vet before I move to Stillwater, Oklahoma to attend Oklahoma State University to hopefully get accepted into the Veterinary Medicine Program where I can become a Doctor. I have been applying for several scholarships since the beginning of Senior year so that way I have the funds to achieve my goals. I have been working on getting the experience that I need by working in the Veterinary field. Before starting at the clinic I work at I did not realize just how much Veterinarians go through and just how much they do. They are very overworked and even more so under appreciated. But, that does not stop me from wanting to do everything that I can to be the words to these pets that can't speak for themselves. I am so ready to start this journey to achieving my goals.

Relaxation is a key step in taking care of your mental health. For me, having quiet time where I sit down and read for awhile or I just take a few minuets to close my eyes. Another great thing that helps me to relax is to take a walk. Whether it is in the park or around my neighborhood. It just really relaxes me to breathe in that fresh air and take in all the nature around me. There are so many great things that you can do to relax. Face masks are one thing that lots of younger teens do to relax. Another exercise that has recently been shown to me are these amazing videos on YouTube, there are no words, just sounds. And you imagine a scenario in your head like you are walking in the woods and you breathe with the music and you take in everything around you as you slowly start to drift slowly to sleep. Or, you can imagine that you are "falling into your bed" or walking on a cloud. There are so many great relaxation techniques. You just have to find the one that works best for you.

Persistence has become a new skill for me. Before COVID, I really did not have the need to be persistent in anything but, the during my Jr year of High School I had to develop the skill of persistence. Due to the mandate of masks, we had to take mask breaks every 20 minuets. That year was the hardest that any year of school has ever been. I had no motivation to do anything and with us constantly going back and forth from In-person learning to distance it was really hard to get settled into one thing before it was changed again. I soon developed a skill for persistence, I had to press through and finish that year to the best of my ability. It was so hard and now looking back, I am so thankful that that part of COVID is now over. This year has been substantially better, my mental health has never been better. And even though that year was so hard, I am glad that I got to work on being persistent.

Just thinking about nature I can smell the fresh air and feel it's soft touch against my skin, I can feel the soft grass below my feet and I can hear the leaves falling from the trees crunching under my feet. I love being outdoors. Whether I am just taking a walk or I am fishing or hunting I love the outdoors and everything that it offers. The life and the adventure just waiting to be explored. And I know that I just mentioned being a hunter and you are probably thinking " How can you appreciate nature yet take the life that you just said that it had to offer?" When I hunt I hunt to eat. And if I do not have a 100% clear shot I do not take the shot. I value the life that is giving me nourishment. The nature that God has provided us. There are so many steps that we need to take to make sure that we are conserving the nature and the life around us.

In this world that we live in you are judged and mocked by anything that we say or do so speaking our minds is something that is rarely if ever done anymore. But it is so vitally important for us to speak our minds and get our opinions out to the world because each and everyone's opinions and ideas matter and need to be heard. I battle with this all the time because my opinions do not conform with the patterns of this world. But I do not let that stop me. I am very into politics. And now with us having a different President, rather than researching both parties and seeing which agenda's fit my beliefs I know like to research and keep up with what kind of mandates that the government is trying to enforce and what laws they are trying to pass. I like to share and speak my mind on social media. That is the largest output that I have and anyway that I can get my opinion out there is better than not. And no matter what kind of backlash I may receive I like to remind myself that their opinion is just as valid as mine. We are both equal human beings, just with different thoughts and ideas. I wish that was the way that the rest of the world viewed things, I like to have hope that someday that is how it will be.

Love is a feeling that we has humans strive to feel from the people around us. We want to feel appreciated and cared for and on some days we need some extra encouragement and kind words. This is why I strive to encourage the people around me. I encourage them to keep working as hard as they can on achieving their dreams. Some just need me to sit with them and help them apply for colleges and scholarships because they have no one else to go to. Others who I know personally I try and encourage everyday letting them know how much they are appreciated. You never know how one small act of kindness might impact someones day. From a nice word or bringing them a drink or a snack. There are so many small and inexpensive things that you can do encourage people. Even just giving them your time and being a listening ear so they can rant or spill all of their emotions out. It is so easy to encourage people, we should all encourage at least one person everyday.

We all have dreams. Whether they are big like traveling out of the country or if they are small, like buying a new car. I think we should all of a bucket list. For me, having a bucket list of things I aspire to accomplish helps me, especially when I am going through the hard times of my life. One of the many dreams on my bucket list is to see the ocean, any ocean will do. I live in Oklahoma so the closest I have to the beach is Lake Texhoma. But, it has always been one of my biggest dreams to go to the beach and go shark fishing. I got blessed with an amazing boyfriend who has a lot of the same dreams as I do so, we plan to start marking things off of our bucket lists together. One other thing that is on my bucket list is to go to New York on New Years and be in Times Square when the ball drops. This item on my bucket list has been there for a long time and I always go back and forth on it because I am not a fan of New York and the crowds but, I feel like being there for that event is a once in a lifetime opportunity that not a ton of people can say that they have also done. And I am all about doing things different than others. These have just been a few things that I hope to accomplish in my short time here of this Earth, I hope that this inspires people to start marking things off their bucket list or at least encourages them to start one. It is an amazing thing to have dreams. Dream them while you can.

Gratitude is something that we don’t see much of anymore and to be quite honest with you I didn’t have much gratitude till I was without a lot of normal essential things. When I was in 9th grade there were a lot of family matters that went down and my family and I were without a place to live. Thankfully my pastors opened their doors to us and gave us a place to stay until we got a rent house but in those few days where we were just staying where we could I realized how much I had taken for granted and what I should’ve had gratitude for. Our house now isn’t the most fancy or up to date but I am so grateful that we have a house that has central heat and air and has good plumbing and a washer and dryer. And while it doesn’t have a dishwasher I am so thankful that I have a sink with running cold and hot water so I can clean the dishes. I am extremely thankful for the fenced yard that we have for my dogs to run in even though it is a smaller yard and it’s in the front of the house. There are so many more things that I could go on and list but I think that I have conveyed my point and I hope that from reading this that you start thinking and having more gratitude for the things that you have. For they could be taken from you in an instant when you least expect it.

Hearing this word brings shivers down all of our spins at this point but going to school during COVID was a situation that I had to persevere through. Normally, I am a really good student. I don’t miss lots of school and I make good grades. But during COVID last school year, especially the second semester, it was very hard for me. I guess I would be considered an “anti-masker” and one of the biggest issues for me was having to wear a mask and then having to get up every 20 minutes of class and stand outside for 10-15 minutes while we take state required mask breaks. I did not learn a thing last year. It was also incredibly hard for me to stay focused last year. I was having trouble completing school work in and out of the classroom. I had absolutely no motivation to do anything. But thankfully I got through it. And with online school being offered hardly anyone went to actual school. I did about 65% of my Jr year online and then the rest in person. I hated coming to the school which was weird for me because I’ve never truly hated being at school until then. I am incredibly thankful that we have gone back to normal, this year so far has been 100 times better than any other year and I can’t wait to see how the rest of it plays out.

Love is a very important part of any kind of relationship. But it is shown in various ways. For example I show love to my boyfriend very differently than I show love towards my sisters. Words are a huge way we can show love. From huge paragraphs to just a few small words there’s so much love that can be shown. Love can also be shown by actions. Cleaning around the house for someone, buying them a small gift, or even just spending some extra time with them could mean the world to that person. The world around us today just shows us the complete opposite way to show love, they just teach us how to show hate. If we just did the small things everyday to show the people around us that we love and care for them we could be part of making the world a better place. Or at least our world around us. Love seems like such a big and bold word but in reality it’s so simple. We have love built into us; we just have to get it out and show it.

I believe that the meaning of life is to be truly happy. Or to find what makes you feel happy. Whether that is with your spouse, your career, or a pet. I believe that we are all supposed to be finding happiness. For me, I have already found my happiness and I’ve found it in a few different aspects of my life. The first is with my boyfriend. He makes me truly happy in our relationship. And I know that he will continue to make me happy for years to come. The next way that I find and live out happiness is through my job. The job that I have now is what I will, for the most part, be doing for the rest of my life. And that is working in veterinary medicine. While I plan to become a Doctor of Veterinary medicine, what I do every day as an assistant gives me so much joy. And then finally the next thing that brings me true happiness is my relationship with Jesus Christ. I am a firm believer in Jesus and he gives me true joy to live everyday to the fullest. He gives me freedom and love no matter what. I have found my happiness very early on in life and I am incredibly thankful for that. And I encourage everyone who hasn’t, to get out there and find it. It’s out there waiting for you.

Giving back is very important to me because we can all help the less fortunate. We are blessed so that we may bless others. In my hometown, we have 2 homeless shelters and every year my FFA team does a drive for each of them. Lots of times we do canned food drives, other times we do clothing drives and this year we are doing a laundry detergent drive since one of our shelters now washes and drys their laundry so that way they have clean clothing. Giving back in some way is something that we should all try and do, now I understand that there are lots of people that do not posses the finances to be able to give back, but the ones that do should really be trying to give back to their community and help out the ones that do not have the resources that we do. You could even just donate a package of water bottles and I am sure that just that one package of water bottles would change someones life, by giving them good drinking water. Let's all give back part of our blessings and bless others.

Ever since I was little I have always loved giving people gifts. Just the joy on their faces when they open their gift brings me so much joy. So when I notice that one of my friends is having a bad week or day, I like to try and bring them something like some Ice Cream while they are at work or a candy bar the next day at school, just something to lift their spirits and let them know that I am there if they need me. And then at work I make sure that the trash is taken out every night and that the instruments are clean and on the towel air drying so that way they will be there, ready to use, when they get there that next morning. I think that the small things that we do for people make a large impact on their day. We have no idea what could be going on when they leave that place or what they are going through mentally. When we just take a few moments of our time and do something nice, it makes a huge difference in their day. Remember the golden rule.

My community recently showed up and helped raise money for a man named Jesse Nickell. His wife is a teacher at Calvin High School and they have 3 children. They have recently found out that Jesse has Brain Cancer. And while they have started treatment, things are not going the way that had hoped, he has had some swelling in his brain and now is having to wear a headband very tightly to help reduce the swelling. They are constantly having to go back and forth from Calvin, Oklahoma, where they live, and then to Houston, Texas where he is receiving his radiation therapy treatment. Although I do not attend Calvin High School, my boyfriend does and his mom is also a teacher there. I helped by buying a shirt and attending the game and helping set up the games and other activities that would be held that night in order to raise money for Jesse's cancer treatment. All of the money raised that night was given to the Nickell family. In total we were able to raise over $4,000 for their family. It was a fantastic experience. The entire family was so incredibly kind and thankful. And I was also thankfully to be able to help out a family in need. It impacted me because we always tend to think that we have it the worse in our lives when really there is a person out there that has it ten times worse. This family is going through what we hope and pray we never have to face even in the slightest. And his wife was coming to work everyday with a smile on her face ready to teach her kids, and is still doing so even though she is carrying a heavier burden than we could ever imagine. I hope that the small gift that we gave them relived some of their stress. I know part of the stress they are going through as my Mama had breast cancer just a few years ago and she was able to beat it but it was a very, very rough journey. And it took a very long time. She also did not have children, this family has three. I cannot even fathom how they have kept it together. I personally would be stressed out of my mind. I think we all have been impacted by the Nickell family, we have all gotten a reality call. We do not have it nearly as bad as we think we do, and we should be extra thankful for what we do have. Remember that every day that you wake up with a heartbeat in your chest and air in your lungs that there is still an adventure to be had, and you still have a life that is worth living. So take that chance, shoot the shot, while you still can.

My goals for the future are to first graduate from OU and receive my degree in Biology. And then I plan to go to OSU to receive my degree in Veterinary Medicine. Currently being a Senior in high school, I have began taking a few college courses in order to help me prepare for my freshman year. My boyfriend wants to become an Orthopedic Surgeon so depending on where he can get a job will dictate where we live but we both want to live in the country so we can have a farm. I personally have not decided whether I want to work for an already established clinic or work with rescues or I could do both. I think it would really come down to what is available at the moment and I will have plenty of time to even do both throughout the course of my life. I have also thought about minoring in political science just because I have always loved politics, but getting closer to college, I am not sure I want that much of a work load with as much school as I am going to need in general for my career choice. I am incredibly excited to start my journey.

I am very passionate about animals. Ever since I was 8 I knew that I wanted to be a Veterinarian. I grew up with cows and pigs and chickens and rabbits, basically you name it and I had it. I began working for the clinic I still currently work for in May of 2019. I started as a kennel tech and quickly moved my way up to a Veterinary Assistant. Depending on the day I see about 10-30 patients a day. All from sick babies to vaccination appointments. I love getting to be a part of saving their animals lives. When I first started, my dad was unsure if I was going to be able to handle the blood and the unfortunate euthanasia part of veterinarian medicine. And so far I have thrived. While it’s very sad that we have to see several of our patients cross that rainbow bridge, most of the time we know it is what is best for them. Animals don’t have a voice, and I couldn’t be happier to “speak” on their behalf. Animals are one of the greatest gifts God blessed us with on this Earth, and I am so blessed to be able to help his great creation.

When you are working in the fast paced environment like I am, listening is a key practice. Or even when you are in a relationship and your partner is going through a ruff time and needs someone to talk to, listening is key. I do my best to make sure I am intently listening to everything going on at work to help prevent communication errors. And then when it comes to my relationship, I make sure and give my boyfriend my full attention when he’s speaking and listen closely so that way I am completely aware of what he is trying to tell me, even if it’s something simple like how his day went or if something has happened and he needs me to be there and just listen to him rant. Because sometimes that’s all someone needs, is a wide ear for them to rant to. Listening is very important to me. My boyfriend does an amazing job of listening to everything I tell him, even if I think it’s insignificant, he’ll remember listening to me say it. And that means so much to me. So, today, while you’re hanging out with your friends, or relaxing at home with your family, make it a point to listen, and see how much it changes the lives around you.

My experience with mental health has pushed me to be more aware of things around me and to always be there for a friend in need. While I have never personally had a problem with mental health, my best friend went through a horrible struggle with hers. So really I went through it with her. We are now even closer than we were before. And now I know to not take even a single second for granted with the people I love. We have no idea what may be the last time we see someone. And now with me being in a relationship, we both make sure to check on the other during the day and make sure we are both doing okay, physically and mentally. We take each others mental health extremely seriously. We are a decent ways away from each other so we make time for calls every week and make sure we see each other on the weekends to make sure our mental health is good for the week. And now my understanding of mental health in the world has changed. It doesn’t matter how old or young you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re a guy or a girl. Mental health is something that everyone needs to be aware of and make sure that the people around you have a good mental health. We have began taking mental health days at the clinic I work for in order for everyone to feel as though they are cared for. Mental health is a large issue but taking a few seconds to check in on your neighbor or co worker could make an incredible difference in that persons mental health.

I try and find joy everyday in my life. In the field that I work, most people see it as 24/7 joyful as we are the profession that just “loves on puppies and kittens everyday”. And while he’s in Veterinary Medicine we do see lots of cute puppies and kittens the hard truth is we are overworked, underpaid, and overlooked. So with that being said, when we are having days where we are overbooked and have several emergencies, we all try and find joy by taking all the cute selfies with the cute puppies and kittens we get to see that day to help take our minds off of the several emergencies and euthanasia’s we’ve had to do that day. We get filled with joy when we see that patient that we spent 2 weeks trying to medicate walk on their own through the doors of the clinic. Or when we see the parvovirus puppies who were on their death beds 2 days before, go home the happy go lucky puppy we know and love. Joy is very important to me. It’s just hard to find sometimes.

One of the simple pleasures in my life is watching the sunset. Whether it’s from my car, on the porch, or in the pasture watching the sunset is something that makes me incredibly happy. With me working and going to school, my life can sometimes be incredibly hectic and stressful and being able to sit outside and take a deep breath and look and the beautiful colors in the sky as the sun slowly sets gives me joy and peace. Another simple pleasure in my life is taking drives. Just hoping in my car either by myself or with my boyfriend and just driving and taking or blasting music through the speakers it makes me incredibly happy. We don’t even have to end up anywhere. My simple pleasures, lots of times, are what keep me going throughout the week. It’s the small things in life that make it worth living. I hope and pray that everyone has a simple pleasure.

Before the pandemic, we all took life for granted. None of us knew how quickly what we call our “Normal” day to day operations can be taken away from us. We all experienced it first hand and none of us knew what to do. But now, we are all prepared. I also feel as though the pandemic pushed me to start working harder towards my goal or becoming a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. With how much things changed within just a few days we never know what could happen within the next few minutes even. I have began to work harder and become more focused on achieving my dreams. And although we all wish the pandemic was something of a distant memory, I think we all can find something that we are thankful for achieving during this pandemic. We will forever be changed by what happened in 2020 but it is up to us to make it a positive occurrence.

I hope to have a very positive impact on their lives after high school. I really give them my honest opinions and try and help them wisely through every situation that they are going through. I really hope that everything that I say and do helps them get to and through college. From helping them with homework, to helping them fill out applications to different colleges I feel as though I am there for a real reason. They are trusting me with their information and their time. I hope that they remember everything that I tried to do for them way on down the road when they are living in their own houses with their own families that they have started. Helping people out has always been very important to me, there are lots of kids out there that don´t have the life that I do. The least I can do is use my talents to help them onto a better path.

In my opinion, being independent means being able to do things on your own. Whether that be making your own dinner to paying your phone bill to completely living on your own. Being independent can look very different for each person based on their age or the point that they are at in life. I began finding my own independence when I was 15 and I got my first job that I still work at today. Then it began to grow when I started paying for my own things, then we I got my license my independence grew substantially. And now, with me fixing to turn 18 I am so thankful that I began practicing my independence very early on. It has helped me get prepared for college and since the college that I have chosen to go to is not in my hometown, I will really have to be independent. I personally think that more parents should push towards strengthening their children´s independence. It will help them so much in their future.

Growing up, unfortunately my parents had made some bad financial decisions. But they have shown me what not to do in my future. Mainly the biggest lesson that I have learned is that credit is extremely important. And to be very careful when it comes to credit cards and debt because it can ruin your life very suddenly and for many years to come. But there are so many ways that we are being taught in school on how to use credit cards to our advantage and on what kinds of loans are good to take out for credit purposes, that I am starting to feel more and more confident as I enter the adult stage in my life. Especially with how many student loans I may need and if I need to buy a car I will have the knowledge to be able to properly and efficiently get to my goal.

Being patient has recently become very important to me. I started working in the veterinary medicine field 2 and a half years ago and with that I have learned so much about patience. You have no idea what may be going on with someone or behind closed doors. And then from a different perspective of patience I experienced one of the best forms of patience this year. I have been waiting for a long time for the right person to come along and after several years of waiting and praying, of trial and error, God finally brought him to me this year. I just had to have patience. This just goes to show how much of a blessing patience can be. There have been lots of times when I just want to give up on being patient and do things my own way but never do things work out when I try that. Patience is the key to all good things.

I am very good at team work and communication. I have spent the past 2 and a half years working at a veterinary clinic and when you work for something as involved and constantly busy as that you are always needing team work and communication. But having teamwork and communication skills will help you in every aspect of life. Like in your marriage and with your children even just with the people you interact with throughout the day whether it is at your place of employment or at the grocery store. And especially with me wanting to become a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine I will have to have very good communication skills with the people around me in the hospital and with all of my clients. And then the teamwork comes into play with the other doctors that I will be working with and the technicians and the assistants all coming together as one to provide the best and affordable care for the communities pets. From working at a medical establishment I have come to see how communication can really weigh in. From giving a heartworm preventative to a dog that did not need one to doing the surgery on the wrong dog I have witnessed first hand how important communication is. And then on the teamwork side, with COVID these past few years our clinic in particular has, like everyone else, experienced being very understaffed. There have been multiple times where I have worked our kennels in the back, our drop off/ in house patients and done our regularly scheduled appointments all in one afternoon because it was just me and one other employee besides the Doctor and we really had to focus on our communication and teamwork to make sure we got everything done as quickly and efficiently. I personally think that I am very good at both of these qualities especially for my age. I am only 17 and have worked very hard at improving these skills over the past 2 years so when I was getting ready to go to college I would already have mastered these skills and I myself believe I am almost there. I work on communication daily with my boyfriend so that we may never have any issues there. I work on my teamwork skills everyday when I go to school as I am in stagecraft and on a judging team for my FFA chapter and that takes lots of teamwork. These skills I believe will be the ones I use every single day for the rest of my life and I am so incredibly thankful that those are the skills that I was blessed to have.