Hollis Brookline students taking the veterinary science class at Alvirne High School in Hudson, New Hampshire took a trip to the Omni Mt. Washington Resort Hotel located in Bretton Woods, NH for the Future Farmers of America convention from April 5 to April 7.

The FFA convention was open to any student taking a veterinary science course in the state of New Hampshire. There were competitions that each team had to participate in, which included activities such as poster making or solving impromptu situations. On the last day of the convention, there was a banquet to announce who won the competition, and also to announce what team won states, which were held at the University of New Hampshire in March. Alvirne won states, and the team gets to compete at nationals, which will be held in Indianapolis in October 2018. “My experience at Mt. Washington was very insightful; I got to see how involved everyone is and what they do to be successful at what they want to pursue,” said Olivia Valentine ‘19.

The convention also had lots of activities for high school students to do during their three-day stay at the hotel. During their downtime, students had the choice to attend a hypnotist show, a dance, and an ice cream social. “There were several sessions that we had to go to that consisted of the FFA officers giving their retiring address, handing out awards, and going over other things that needed to be addressed. We also went to workshops that were about team building.” said MacKenzie Wood ‘19.

HB students taking the class leave everyday for Alvirne at noon and return back to the school at 2:30. The class is one of many classes that HB students can take to further their knowledge of the field or career they plan on going into. The veterinary science class is a “very broad class that covers a lot of ground,” according to Valentine. The class has taught students many things in a short period of time. “Vet science has given me the opportunity to further my knowledge of animals. We have learned about animal breeds, behavior, anatomy and much more. I’m sure this information will become very handy when I go to college,” said Wood.

Many students taking part of the vet science class intend to stay in that field for when they get to college. Pigott has already gotten a head start to her career by working at the Hollis Veterinary Hospital. “I’m just a kennel assistant, so I clean for most of the day, but my job is fantastic and everyone knows about the program I’m in at Alvirne, and they all know how much I want to learn. When there are opportunities where I can help or watch, they let me. I’m able to watch surgeries and understand the medical terms they use, which is very nice to be able to know what each part is and its function,” said Pigott. “They also let me help hold animals when doing vaccines, and I know how to properly handle and care for good and bad situations because of my program. I wouldn’t have known any of that if it wasn’t for Alvirne.”

Other students who take the class have other career plans. “When I first started the class, I wanted to be a veterinarian. As the class continued, I came to the conclusion that just because I wanted to work with animals didn’t mean I had to become a vet. There are many other careers out there that will fulfill my dream of working with them on a daily basis,” said Wood. Luckily, the class covers animal behavior, techniques, medical terminology, animal safety, health, disease, and kennel skills. Other advanced skills include feeding analysis, deworming, vaccinations, and physical exams. “I don’t want to become a veterinarian because I’d rather work in the physical therapy aspect of medicine, which this class also covers,” said Valentine.

The students taking the veterinarian science class will continue a second and final year of the class, as well as they will compete at nationals in October in Indianapolis and have the knowledge of what they want to do in college.