Hi everyone. This is a very rough draft. I was asked to write an essay about why I chose this specific college, why I felt I was a good candidate, what my experience was and what I planned to do in the future with my career. I changed the name of the school and any other information I felt was too personal. Thank you!
Choosing the career that I want to spend the rest of my life doing is something that was exceedingly difficult for me. It is hard to grasp the concept of selecting what profession is going to be right for me, something I will be interested in and want to pursue every day for the rest of my life. Especially at such a relatively young age. I can not help but think what if I choose wrong? What if I wake up in 15 years and realize I hate my career? I have thought about different schools and jobs, as well as the pros and cons, for what seems like forever. Will I make enough money? Will I be able to pay my bills, buy a house, own a car? These questions troubled me for awhile until it finally hit me. I needed to stop worrying about the 'what if's' and do something I am passionate about. My love for animals has always been the one constant thing in my life. I have always had pets and could not imagine what life would be like without them. Working with animals is something I know I will always be passionate about. And what is that saying, "Do something you love and you will never work a day of your life"?
It is hard to say why I want to work with animals, without including the obvious statement that I just genuinely love all animals. I want a career that is going to challenge me and give me the opportunity to experience and learn new things every day. I want to be able to make a difference in the lives of animals. I also want to help educate the public about the proper care of animals. Working as a Vet Tech will satisfy all of those needs while providing me with a rewarding career that I will continue to enjoy for years.
I have quite a bit of experience working with all types of animals. I have grown up with a variety of pets such as dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, and the list could go on. I also have experience working as a volunteer at the Name of Zoo, which is something I really enjoy and am very proud of. I volunteer in the oceans building working with the penguins and Cownose rays. I volunteer every other Tuesday from 8-12pm. Each morning, I clean both the small and large exhibits for the penguins. After cleaning, I help prepare diets for the penguins, which includes separating fish for the AM and PM feedings, as well as the different breeds. I also separate the fish that will be used for vitamins. Each bucket is then weighed and put away until the 10:30 and 3:30 feeds. After penguin diets are prepared, I move on to the ray diets. Each day, the rays are given a different type of food. On Tuesdays, they are fed 4lbs of squid, 3lbs of krill and 1lb of clam. After I prepare their diet, which does take awhile because cutting 4lbs of squid into bite size pieces is a much longer process than you would think, I am actually able to feed the rays on my own. The zoo is currently trying to get the rays used to hand feeding, so we use a platform to dump the food onto to get them to come to the surface. Depending on how much time I have, I usually spend about 15-20 minutes feeding the rays. In that time, I only have about 6-7 rays come up to the platform to feed and I can usually get about 2-3 to actually take squid or clam from my hand. They are really interesting to just watch though. When the rays are all taken care of for the morning, it is almost time for my favorite part, which is the penguin feed! I have been volunteering at the zoo since May, so I know enough now to be able to feed the King and Gentoo penguins on my own. Feeding the penguins is one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. I love getting to spend that 30-45 minutes with them. The zoo is obviously open at this time as well, so it is fun to look out the window and see how excited the public is to see the penguins eating. Each penguin has a band around their wing, females are banded around the left wing while males are banded around the right. The band then has a number of colored plastic pieces on it, which is used in correlation with a number system set up to correctly identify each penguin. While feeding, I have a paper with each penguins number, i.e. K6 or G009, that I use to record the amount of fish given to each, as well as the number of vitamins. Feeding the penguins is a lot of fun, but it can be quite overwhelming at times. Sometimes, the penguins are not as cooperative as I would like, especially the Kings. They are very stingy when it comes to feeding and often try to take fish out of my hands, or straight from the bucket, when I am feeding the other breeds. After I am finished with the penguin feed, I go back to the kitchen to record how much each penguin ate, as well as clean all of my dishes. By then, it is about time for me to leave. I am also required to do a certain number of "special events" volunteering, so that gives me the opportunity to work more closely with the public. I can help out with educational opportunities, overnight adventures with kids or almost any other event that the zoo needs help with. Volunteering at the zoo is something I am really proud of. I learn something new every day and it has really helped me in deciding on a career path for myself.
I have always loved visiting the zoo, but until I started volunteering, I never realized how important the zoo was for the conservation of animals, especially endangered species. The zoo is also vital for educating and teaching people about the threats to each different species of animals, which hopefully encourages people to respect and protect animals. They also do a lot of research, such as Project Penguin, which is an organization that focuses on increasing the reproduction of Rockhopper penguins in human care. Through volunteering at the zoo and learning from hands-on experience that it is more than just looking at the beautiful animals, I was finally able to realize what career was right for me. I would love to specialize in exotic animals and work at the zoo. With that in mind, I feel that continuing my education would greatly benefit my career goals. After receiving my AAS in Veterinary Technology, I would like to then apply for the 2 + 2 program at Name of University to receive my BS. I would also like to apply for an internship at the Name of Zoo working in the Name of Zoo hospital. They offer a 4-8 week internship for Vet Tech students in their second year, so that is something I am definitely going to be working towards.
After visiting Name of College, I am entirely confident that this program is perfect for me. I love the small class sizes and the fact that there is an on-site kennel where students can gain hands-on experience. During my tour, I felt completely certain that I would love my experience at Name of College. Everything about Name of College really made me feel excited to start class and begin learning and working towards my career. I also believe that I would be a great asset to Name of College. I am the first to admit that I have had some issues with school in the past and I have not made the best possible decisions for myself, but now I am completely dedicated to continuing my education and working as hard as I can to get myself on the right track. I am a very devoted, hard working person and if I am accepted into the Vet Tech program, I will spend the next two years being the best student I can possibly be. Name of College would benefit from my positive attitude towards learning and I hope I am given the chance to prove myself.
That third paragraph is reallllllllyyyyy long. It needs to be broken up some. Also there are way too many details. It's obvious enough that you are passionate about this, but those who read it may not feel so passionate about reading what you fed the penguins and rays.
Here's the thing: it's a balance, making people who will make a decision about you care about you. They need and want to feel your passion, they really do. But they aren't going to, after reading hundreds of these, really care about it the same way you do. And you wouldn't expect them to.
So my advice is to cut about half of those details out, talk about it generally, while also speaking about your love of doing it. I know it's a hard thing to do, but you just don't want them giving up on the reading before they're done. Let them wonder about it, if they are so inclined.
