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A portion of Christie's winning essay:
While I have always performed well academically, I never enjoyed school. My education was very important to me; however, I am not a cookie cutter person that can easily fit into a mold with rigid structure and rules. At age 16 I chose to leave the structure of school and pursue
alternative educational avenues. This included computer classes, vocational training in photography, and various other classes to prepare myself for the job market. I really did not have a direction. I had considered college to be in my future at some point, but I did not know what career was important enough to me to spend so much of my time and money to learn.
The first years of my work life were spent in menial jobs working to put food on the table. I am the sole financial support for myself and my disabled mother. It was very difficult for me to just be a number on a line, but I did not know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I just knew that I wanted more. At that time I came upon a position working as a kennel worker in a feline veterinary hospital. The work was hard, the pay was poor, and I had to drive 45 minutes to get to this job. This job changed my life. I have always loved animals and wanted to work with them, but I never believed myself capable of becoming a veterinarian. Other
career avenues were just beginning to open up back then so they were more obscure to find. I spent all of my free time learning everything that I could. This was the first job that really gave me marketable skills. Looking to expand on my abilities I worked at various other veterinary clinics. I had found the profession that I wanted to work in, but I could
not find a clinic that really fit me. I am very particular about a clinic that I will be associated with. They must hold the same intent to practice excellent medicine with integrity and ethics that I do.
When I finally found Morris Veterinary Hospital I knew that I had come home. I have been there 9 years and have never looked back. I started as a technician. While this was very rewarding to me I still did not feel as if I had found what I wanted to dedicate my life to. I considered going to college for a degree as a Licensed Technician, but it just didn't really
call me. I did not have the passion to go that extra mile.
After 2 years in my position our office manager resigned. While I was very flattered that the position was offered to me, I felt as if I were a fish out of water. I did not think that I had the necessary skills or personality to succeed in the position. I very nearly turned it down. Somehow my boss saw something in me that I never knew existed. She convinced me that I had nothing to lose by trying and that she had the faith to give me the chance. Wow, was I overwhelmed! It didn't help that we were severely understaffed at such a critical window of transition. I thought that I had put in long hours before, ha, I had no idea. The concept of
"day off" and "lunch break" became figments of my imagination. Lunch became the amount of items that you could safely stuff into your mouth while you were on hold with a vendor, reading a report or entering inventory. It really became the toughest job that I would ever love. I learned so much about myself in that first year of management. Being in a position of
respect and authority made my confidence grow in leaps and bounds.
I have always had a very good relationship with my boss, the owner, but working side by side to make our company grow has bound our friendship in stone. We have come to depend on each other so much. She has had much adversity personally and professionally over the last 2 years. This is where she really transferred much of running our clinic to me. I have had
to really step up my performance in order to keep our clinic alive, especially in this challenging economy. Due to her worsening health issues, she had allowed many areas of clinic management to be neglected. When I inherited these tasks I had to immerse myself in getting these areas under control quickly. Basically I packed up what was portable and moved it to my
home. This allowed me to work on daily operations such as my technical duties at the clinic, and my bookwork could then be done at home after hours. I could not have really imagined such a mess. Bills had been paid only hit and miss, and there were huge arrearages from such neglect of our finances. My Thanksgiving was spent teaching myself a crash course in accounting and learning Quickbooks, sorting out the few records that were available and trying to get an evaluation of how deep the rabbit hole went.
Since then I have managed to get our outstanding debts current, many of the leases paid off early, negotiated better terms on other contracts and gotten the clinic running lean and efficient. I am extremely proud of how much I have learned in such a short period. However, I have been bitten by the bug. I have finally found what I am meant to do with my life. I am
an excellent troubleshooter. I possess a very logical mind and am very passionate about my work. I have very high standards, a strong set of ethics and am very dedicated to my family and friends. I also enjoy being very active in my community. I am very fortunate to be in a position to help when needed. I was able to spearhead a campaign that collected much
needed supplies and money to help displaced Katrina victims, as well as items to assist with pets that were being rescued. I was also able to volunteer and give medical attention to many of the animals that came through Michigan on their way to foster homes. I work very closely with animal rescue groups such as REGAP- a racing greyhound rescue organization to help them to provide medical care and foster homes for greyhounds being rescued from the racing tracks. I am also responsible for the Morris Hospital Stray Animal Fund. Thanks to different charity events, including our first annual adoption fair, we have been able to rehome and provide much
needed medical care for over 30 dogs and cats this year alone.
While I am able to serve with my present abilities, I have decided where I want to start my college road. I want a degree in Business/Management. Only now am I able to truly appreciate what is being asked of me professionally and academically. I want to be able to
contribute even more to the businesses entrusted in my care. I want to be
an even more valuable asset to any company that I may work with.
The sense of pride and self-worth that has come from looking back at the last few years of what I have accomplished in my present position practically make the buttons burst off of my shirt. I did all of that by digging in and getting a job done. Now I want to see how much more I can
accomplish if I have a formal education behind me. It is mandatory in my industry to constantly be reading, learning and attending continuing education meetings. I see this as an extension of that. Eventually I want to start my own consulting firm to help other clinics. Since everything in my life has also been a financial struggle, I would also like to be paid
more appropriately for what I can do. It may take me years to accomplish this new goal of a degree. Like any other obstacle in my life, I will not allow limited finances to stop me from reaching this goal.
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