Anna Ferguson Email & Phone Number

Growing up I was in love with animals, any animal you could think of (except insects). I loved to go over to my friends houses and follow their pets around, it was later on when I discovered my love for training animals. The first time we got a family pet I was ecstatic, we had been begging our parents for years and finally we were ready to open our house to an adorable kitten. While my family members were looking forward to cuddling and playing with the cat, I was already watching videos to train the cat tricks. I loved watching our relationship strengthen throughout the training process. Today my cat knows how to sit, stand on his back legs, go wherever I point, give fist bumps, jump over poles, meow on command, and spin in place. It was during that moment in time I began to wonder if this could turn into my career.I started an internship at an Equestrian Center in hopes to learn what it was like to train and take care of horses. I began learning how to groom, tack, and walk horses the proper way so that if a horse gets spooked you won't be in harms way. As I continued my internship I began learning how to lunge horses until eventually I was able to successfully lunge a horse with little problems. One day my instructor got out one of the horses and handed me a pair of scissors, instructing me to cut the horses mane. After a short demonstration she put her trust in me and went back into the stables to work with other horses. I looked at the scissors and the horse's mane and hoped that I wouldn't curse the horse with my non-existent skills. With low confidence, I thought back on when I decided to learn more mediums of art. I realized that the best course of action would be to take it slow and allow myself room to make errors while I was learning how to properly cut the mane. The mane didn't look professional, but in the end I was proud of the work I was able to accomplish. It helped me to realize that the only way to gain confidence in something knew, is to just start. Your first time won't be perfect, but it will be the best you could do at the moment. Improvement is a step to becoming more confident. Without the bitter taste of disappointment you'll never fully enjoy the sweet taste of accomplishment.

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  Payson High School

  General Studies