College Questions

5. Why do you want to major in Animal Sciences?

I’ve always enjoyed working around animals. It’s something I never get tired of.
When I was little I would always ask my dad when we could get a dog, and I constantly persisted, pleaded, and begged for one up until I moved from the city to New Paltz. I then started to volunteer at a horse ranch in Marlborough (I still am), and I spent the majority of my summers there. They had a wide variety of animals other than horses- there were cows, llamas, goats, ducks, dogs, an emu that enjoys baths, and other creatures as well. As a volunteer, I would help feed and water the animals, groom and tack the horses, and tag and lead trail rides for the public. I definitely learned a lot of things about horses, and I still have much to learn. I think I’ve also learned more about responsibility. I did made several mistakes, but I feel that I’ve become more aware of how to prevent myself from messing up.
I always liked working outdoors. Back in middle school where there was virtually no homework, I would always spend my afternoons outside biking, in the woods across the street, or spending time with the rabbits.
Last year as a sophomore, I definitely wanted to pursue animal sciences and zoology in college, and my family and I took trips up to colleges that had the courses I was interested in.
However, I think I’d like to focus more on endangered species- researching and preserving. It is important to keep these species from dying out in order to protect biodiversity and to maintain a healthy ecosystem.

8. What do you do for fun in your free time?

When I’m stuck at home with no means of transportation to go anywhere else, I usually spend a good few hours or more with the chickens and the rabbits. On some weekends I would eat breakfast and then immediately go outside and let out the older chickens. They tend to stay in a closely knitted flock, and the only real worry is stray dogs or hawks in the area. I usually led them over to the compost pile and dug for worms. Whenever they saw me holding a shovel, they would run over with that funny wobbling run of theirs and wait until I turned over a pile of dirt to start frantically scratching at the ground to look for worms and grubs.
The younger chickens are in a separate fenced in area because there are so many of them. It’s a bit intimidating when I sit down with a dish of food, and see 54 chickens running toward me. Even though some look a like, I’ve spent enough time around them so that I can distinguish the friendlier ones and give them names. Some even let you reach out and pet them. They were all skittish and in complete terror of any noise or motion when they were chicks, but as they grew up they seemed to have lost some of their fear of humans. Well, some of them anyway. A few actually climb up onto my legs and perch on them for a while.
When I’m not acting like a chicken obsessed person, I bike, play the piano, and volunteer and ride at a horse ranch when I can, which is usually during the summer.