My name is Ruthanne Campbell. Ever since I was younger, I have always had a passion for becoming a veterinarian because I have always had a love for animals. I have always had pets since I was younger, whether it was a dog, cat, or even fish. When I was asked “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, my answer was always to become a veterinarian, which is a common area of interest at a young age for most people, but for me, I still have that passion. I want to take care of animals when they do not feel well, because they have a love like no other. When I was in elementary school around my 3rd grade year, a dog came in, and I got to read to him. After a few months, he had to move away, and I have not got to see him since. When I read to him, I realized talking to animals is something that is easy for me to do rather than talking more to people. Although I still want to help animals, I also want to help people. The career field I’m hoping to pursue and get a degree in is physical therapy or pre-veterinarian to possibly become a veterinary technician instead, because I do still get to work with animals. In my senior year of high school, I got to do an internship opportunity as one of my classes and I chose to go to a vet clinic. Over the course of the school year, the doctors and the technicians made me want to pursue something in the animal field more and more each day, because they taught me how to do things I did not know how to do and things I never knew about. Like how to draw up vaccines, how to restrain an animal, and “how do you know when a tooth is bothering an animal so you need to pull it?” Becoming a physical therapist or veterinarian, I will be able to help men and women to do things and or care for their pets. I plan to attend a 4-year college in the fall of 2025, pursuing one of these degrees in order to help those who need it and be a helpful guide when they are looking for one, even if they do not ask for it. Being there for those who need it and the animals that need it.

I have always been quiet since preschool and never understood why. When I was in elementary school, my Oma looked into it online. She found something called Selective Mutism. My mom called a counselor who had never heard of it. She looked into it and diagnosed me with SM. It was difficult because all of my friends were talking to each other. I would listen but would never speak.        Being someone who is quiet has not always been the easiest way to make friends or find people who want to hang out. When I was in elementary school, as it was a private school, I had good teachers who believed in me and helped me, and ones that did not really care or knew I was never going to succeed, because "I was too quiet", or "shy", which made my grades kind of slip because I didn't always ask for help, or I didn't understand what the teacher was saying.  I had a best friend in elementary school from my first year until 7th or 8th grade who I would face almost every day during the cold and always wanted to hang out, which made it easier to talk to her sometimes, because I became more comfortable around her. Although I got the read to a dog one year and got more out of my comfort zone because it was towards an animal and not a human.     Middle school helped me get a better understanding of public schools, which made me like them more. I started getting more out of my comfort zone and tried out different things I would never have thought of. I was on the swim team both years and my coaches and teammates always cheered me on and helped me along the way. My grades became better because I started understanding the lessons more and the teachers understood me more. I tried out something called "paw squad" at this school, where you get to learn new or change new things about the school and help out the incoming 7th graders, but since Covid was during that year, we didn't get to do much because of the mask mandate and sitting far apart and some people being online while others were in person.    Nearing the end of high school and graduating this year, I have learned and accomplished things. I was a cougar leader during my sophomore, junior, and senior years where you show around the new Freshman and helped them throughout the year. I joined multiple clubs, like "bring change to mind", which is mental health awareness, and also Buildon. I'm interning at a veterinary clinic. I was on color guard my freshman year, which was a fun experience, and the whole band and the instructors were always helping us accomplish the things we needed to learn. The teachers and my principal have helped me accomplish alot and were always very patient with me if I didn't understand something. I have made amazing friends who are the sweetest and most patient with me.          Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to become a veterinarian because I have always had a love for animals, but I'm also thinking about kinesiology to help people. I want to pursue a college degree because I want to be someone who helps animals or people. But animals have always been the easiest for me to talk to, as they can understand me and I can understand them. I'm hoping to pursue that dream after high school and be able to help those who need it.