Yesterday I competed alongside 3 team members in the Florida State Veterinary Science CDE. We competed against approximately 30 teams (who qualified for states out of the approximately 70-100 Florida Veterinary Science teams) consisting of around 110 individuals. This is a very difficult competition, consisting of a written exam, breed identification (dogs, cattle, swine, cats, horses, small mammals, reptiles, sheep, goats, and poultry), tool identification, parasite identification, and clinical practicums (ranging from intramuscular injections to suture removal), and restraints (ranging from restraint of a cat for a cephalic venipuncture to applying a hog snare).
My team placed 5th in the state and I placed 1st in the state individually!
This was a very big accomplishment for my school, as we've only had a veterinary science team for 3 years out of the almost 60 years we've had an FFA chapter, and we were competing against very experienced teams and schools. It was also great to see our hard work pay off considering the road blocks our team faced in the beginning of the year. I was the only returning team member from the past 2 years, as 2 team members graduated and the other did not return to FFA. This meant I had to coach our team in addition to learning the material on my own. This was a lot of responsibility, but we put in hours upon hours of work and it was great seeing our results reflect that.
As the individual state champion I will be recognized on stage at the Florida FFA State Convention, and our team will be recognized for placing 5th on stage as well, receiving trophies for our efforts.
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