“How has the Pearland Independent School District prepared me for the future?” Almost two years ago I was just a normal student, I did what I needed to get an A or a B and I wasn’t involved in any extracurricular activities, then I moved to Pearland. I had never before been to a school where I wanted to be a part of things, or a school where I felt welcome and accepted. I have been lucky enough to know what career pathway I want to pursue but I had absolutely no clue where to start. When I enrolled in Pearland I was informed that Turner High School down the road has veterinary medicine courses. It was like a dream come true, until I found out that it was too late to enroll at Turner. I thought for sure I was going to have to pass up the opportunity of a lifetime but the counselor worked her magic and got me in the veterinary medicine course at Turner, I would just have to travel between schools. I have wanted to be in FFA for a while but I had never had the opportunity to do so. When I came to Pearland I was finally able to become a part of the organization and I was even in time to raise an animal for major stock shows like the Houston Rodeo. It was a bit intimidating to raise my first animal for a show that had such a large volume of contestants but I had already waited so long for this opportunity. I chose to raise a goat because of how difficult it is to train them considering I like a good challenge. In addition to raising an animal for FFA I was also in LDEs and CDEs for FFA. Pearland Independent School District has prepared me for the future in more ways than I had ever dreamed. It has given me a second and third family, knowledge about veterinary medicine and even an internship at an animal hospital, and has taught me responsibility. Pearland has helped shape me as a person so that I have many skills I will need later in life such as how to speak to people with confidence, how to dress and act in an interview setting, and how to take control of situations that may not have been predicted. I will now be able to go into the real world with confidence because of all the important life lessons I have learned from Pearland Independent School Disrict.