Pets or Politics
A heart too big to be be in the operating room, but just right for a courtroom.
Meg is just about as girl boss as it gets. From the time she was a little girl Meg was creative, assertive and had the social skills of a full blown adult. It was like she was a 30 year old trapped in a 3 year old’s body.
One thing that was undeniable was Meg’s love for her furry friends. Growing up in Missouri, she was surrounded by all different kinds of animals. Her family had cats and dogs of their own and her grandparents had a big farm with tons of livestock. Meg would always go over to her grandparent’s and help with the animals and had so much fun while doing it.
Not only was she always surrounded by her real life furry friends, but Meg also had a huge collection of stuffed animals that she would “take care of.” She had her own imaginative pet hospital where she would nurse the stuffed animals back to health. Her mom even bought her a doctors kit with ‘Dr. Meg’ on the side of it. This is where Meg began her dreams of being a vet. When people would ask her the golden question, “what do you want to be when you grow up” Meg would respond with “I want to help animals when they are sick, I want to be a vet.”
This dream of Meg’s continued up until a terrible day when she was in middle school. Her beloved little Boston Terrier, Vivian, was having some health complications and the vet told her family they would need to put her down. This was so devastating to Meg and her family because they had never lost an animal like this. Losing a best friend like a pet was heart wrenching. Being in the cold room, surrounded by sad white walls and seeing how hard it is to see pets suffer, immediately pushed away all meg’s hopes and dreams of being a vet. She realized her love for animals was just too big to see them hurt.
At the beginning of high school a family friend told Meg about a volunteer opportunity working with the local senator. Meg always had a love for her history and government classes so this was right up her ally. She spent the summer learning the ins and outs of politics and absolutely fell in love. She had found a place where she could combine her incredible social skills and assertive attitude with her want to help people.
After that summer Meg decided to hang up her doctor’s coat and put on a blazer, she wanted to work in politics. She spent all of high school leading her student government and volunteering with as many organizations as she could. From the local shelters and hospitals to the girl scout troops, Meg was known in Kansas City for her volunteer work. She had learned that Arizona State University had many opportunities to work hands on with politics while attending school. Her and her mom went for a tour and she fell in love with the warm weather, big campus, and room for growth.
The following fall Meg made the big move from Missouri to Arizona. The hardest part? Leaving all her animals behind. Her mom did make it a point to Facetime her with the animals often though.
ASU’s school of global politics brought Meg so many opportunities. She got to work in real life campaigns, attend numerous speakers and learn so much about the intense politics world in her classes. While in school she had a fellowship doing research on government policy. While some found find that to be boring, Meg found it to be fascinating.
Meg is set to graduate this year and plans to find a job working with government policy. As much as she is a Kansas City girl at heart, she knows there are so many opportunities for politics in Arizona, especially with the 2020 election coming up.
Meg’s strong will is perfect for this career path. Her advice to everyone in college is to make connections, and go after what you find to be fun, even if everyone else doesn’t! She still claims she’s growing up and although she no longer wants to be a vet, she has big hopes of one day ruling the country and becoming president, with her animals in the White House with her.
