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Dear
Members of the AFNZRBA,
I
would like to give a big thank you for selecting me as a
winner of the Federation’s Youth Scholarship. I am currently
attending Delaware Valley College, an agricultural school of
science, as a freshman. My selected major is Small Animal
Science, but there is a possibility I will switch to Large
Animal Science. As for a career path, right now I am
considering animal nutrition or animal husbandry, but still
have a few years to figure it out. I am currently involved in
the college’s collegiate FFA chapter and Animal Lifeline
club. When I am not busy at school, I usually go home to work
on the weekends. I work at a residence where they have a 6 run
private kennel, and they breed long-haired collies. The family
also adopts, fosters, and home-schools special needs children,
and I help them keep up with their busy lifestyle around the
house. When I’m not at work or hanging out with friends,
I’ll either be with my “sidekick” boxer pup, or
attending to my goats or chinchillas. Having grown up around
the rabbit industry, my sister and I got our first trio of New
Zealand Reds when I was in first grade, after having Dutch
rabbits for three years. The Reds seemed to be a bit big for
me at a young age, and I switched to raising Holland Lops.
Since they have become such a popular, competitive breed,
after 6 years of raising the Hollands, my dad convinced me to
help promote the blacks. In my 9th grade year, I
started raising black New Zealands and showed at numerous
local shows, National Conventions, and New Zealand Nationals.
Towards the end of my junior year, my dad and I started to
incorporate the broken variety into our line, (which I’m
very pleased to hear that they have been accepted!) I belong
to several other rabbit clubs, and was an active member and
officer in my high school FFA and local 4-H Rabbit Club. Since
being away at school, sadly enough, I decided to take a break
from raising rabbits to also save my dad some work. He rebuilt
our rabbitry this past spring, and it looks awesome, so
hopefully post-college, he will be able to help me build one
of my own! Thanks again to everyone who has helped me along
the way, it has been an awesome experience, and I look forward
to seeing everyone at the shows in the future!
Kacy
Shipe
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