Journal 1

THIS IS ACTUALLY MY FIRST JOURNAL.

Journal 1 – (Junior year planning)
I have set up who my mentor will be . I was sure to do it early because I knew I wanted Mrs. Hoppel and figured she would be asked by other people and didn’t want to not get her because I took too long to ask. I have also been thinking about ideas for my exhibit and have pretty much set on doing Equine Veterinary. It’s something that I already know a little bit about, while there’s still so much more I could learn. I have heard I’m pretty good with it. It’s something that I am interested in, and comes easily to me. I have also heard from others that I do well under the pressure, and am able to handle the stressful situations that you are generally put in while being an Equine Vet and working with large horses that are sometimes acting up since they are hurt.
I have made further progress on my learning activity! My mother has set up a summer activity for me with the Vet we use for our horses. It is called Rappahannock Equine Clinic and there are three different vets at the clinic, and I will go in most likely around once a week this summer to help out/intern one of the three vets. It is not something they normally let anyone under 18 do, but because I have known the vets for a while and will just be 17, they have agreed to let me do this with my parents having to sign a waiver. I am really excited because I already know two of the three vets, and like them both very much. One is an older, more experienced vet and the owner of the clinic, while the other is young and fun but still knowledgeable. Both of them have taken care of my own pony, which shows that I already know and trust their work. However, I still have not decided what I will do to apply this. I have thought about teaching a class but it doesn’t appear to be something that the average person(at FA) would like to learn about, or at least in my opinion. I plan to talk about this with Mrs. Hoppel as soon as I get things together and set up a meeting with her.
I recently have started second guessing my original topic, but have no idea what to replace it with. So far, I still have not been able to figure out what to do with my application and its making me unsure if I still want to keep this topic. I really like the idea, because it’s something I’m interested in, but if I can’t find a way to apply it, it may not work. I am having trouble coming up with other things that I am interested enough in to consider for my topic but I will continue thinking on it.
My most recent idea for a new topic was doing Forensic Science and taking a week long camp on it this summer. I got a packet in the mail from a program that does many different types of camps, one being on Forensic Science. Since it has always been something that seems to interest me, yet I know nothing about, I thought it would be really fun. The camp looked great since it was close, seemed knowledgeable and you get college credits for completing it. It wasn’t until my parents saw the price of the one week camp that I realized it wasn’t going to happen. So, yet again.. I’m back to square one with Equine Veterinary.
After hearing that my mom has talked to the vets and they have agreed to let me meet with them even under the circumstances that I’m not as old as the people they usually allow, I think it shows that this is something I should move forth with. It’s something different then many of the other topics my peers are doing, and I feel that with my interest in horses already it will only further my knowledge about them. I am looking forward to this summer when I will be riding around with the vets and helping them out.
I am still worried about what my application for my topic will be. I have talked a little bit about it with my mom, and she is thinking that once I get to work with the vet in the beginning of the summer, she will be able to figure something out for me. The further time goes on, the more I will be able to get a feel for what exactly I will be doing and that way I can think of some way to apply it. I also have to figure out a contract between my parents and the Equine clinic, just for legal issues and everything.