A New Dream

I was a junior in high school and on a straight path that I had predetermined at some point in middle school.  My focus was to become an equine veterinarian and even in high school I knew every test I took got me either closer or further away from my goals.  I have always been very practical, and being a vet seemed like the best way to have my cake and eat it too as they say.  Then this guy showed up at our weekly “chapel.”  It was a 45 minute time slot after lunch where someone would come and attempt to inspire a bunch of cocky teenagers.  I don’t remember who it was and I don’t remember exactly what was said, but he breathed the belief into me that I should follow my little girl dream.  As we all filed out of the gym that day the guys were cutting up and making crude remarks as usual.  The girls were probably gossiping or talking about the next thing going on in there lives. But something was stirring inside of me.  I had spent hours upon hours of my life with my nose buried in books galloping down the backstretch of Churchill Downs with the characters of the book.  Maybe it didn’t have to be just the fantasy of a horse crazy little girl.  It suddenly became my mission to go to school in Kentucky where I could ride on the racetrack while in school.  It never crossed my mind that racetracks existed anywhere else.  I was kentucky obsessed from that point on.  It turned out that Kentucky, arguably the Thorougbred capitol of the world, didn’t have a vet school.  Not to be deterred I continued to do my research and soon found that Auburn, one of the best vet schools in the country, had 36 slots reserved each year for applicants from KY.  It all seemed to fall perfectly into place.  I planned a trip to visit schools in the bluegrass state as soon as my junior year of high school ended.  We would fly into Louisville and make a large loop through the state visiting colleges and learning the lay of the land.  I pored over the horse racing magazines soaking up every bit of information possible and found a schedule of stakes races. One of the biggest, the Stephen Foster, would be held in Louisville while we were there.
In my world, it was not only about getting accepted into schools.  I needed a large scholarship if I wanted to be able to leave my hometown, and my parents’ dream of me attending their alma mater Mississippi College.  Exceptonal test scores were critical.  After taking the ACT 5 times, I finally had the score that I believed any average school would drool over.
Junior year came to a close and we boarded the plane to Louisville, KY.  I was on my way to making my dream come true.  Churchill Downs here I come!!!