The Seeing Eye by Emma

The Seeing Eye by Emma - December 2019 Scholarship Essay

I cannot begin to count the number of times I have been asked the question ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’. My answer to that question has changed dramatically over the years, from wanting to be a teacher at age five when I started school and fell in love with learning, to age nine when I got a dog and wanted nothing more than to be a veterinarian, to age eleven when I realized I could become an astronaut and visit the stars. As I’ve grown, I have come to understand that I don’t need to have my entire life planned out at the age of seventeen. All I need to have right now is the passion to learn, grow, and explore.

For me, this passion was uncovered two years ago when I was able to have the experience of being a Puppy Raiser for The Seeing Eye. I raised my puppy, Hugo, from the age of eight weeks to a year and a half, a time period in which he was my constant companion. He accompanied me and my family everywhere – from the farm show to college tours to our family vacation at the beach. Socialization and exposure to any type of experience was my primary role in the training of Hugo, but I also had other responsibilities. For example, I was expected to attend monthly meetings with ‘the puppy club’ through 4-H in which I met with other Seeing Eye Puppy Raisers, learned new training techniques, and participated in local outreach events. In March of 2018, Hugo returned to The Seeing Eye’s training facility for his formal training and was placed with his blind owner in September of 2018. I learned so much from my experience raising a guide dog – responsibility and work ethic, of course, but most importantly empathy. It was those characteristics that spurred me into the path I see for myself now.

Through the 4-H Puppy Club, I visited the training school in New Jersey to learn more about what science goes into Seeing Eye Dogs both before and after their time with Puppy Raisers. At this event, I attended a seminar on the genetics that go into breeding dogs with the perfect temperament, high intelligence, and clean bill of health that is needed in guide dogs. The speaker presented an abundance of information, but the most interesting point she made was that litters of puppies were planned from 2 to 3 generations in advance. I couldn’t believe that the science of genetics went as far as knowing information about puppies whose grandparents had not yet been born, that the geneticists could predict not only things like coat color but also energy levels, temperament, and even walking speed so far in advance. While much of the room grew bored with talk of alleles and genotypes, I became more intrigued. The Seeing Eye has an advanced genetics program, it surely couldn’t be the most cutting-edge technology. If something this fascinating is so routine to an expert in the field, what sort of things are going on at the front lines of genetic research?

This seminar was my lightbulb moment. In my free time I started to research genetics, I bought books on genetics, I read articles about genetics. I thought I had found the answer to the ever-present question of what I want to be when I grow up. Never before had I found such a passion in a potential career path. Then, I started to explore other scientific areas – neuroscience, biomedical engineering, psychology, aeronautics. I discovered that my interests were found not in any one of these areas, but in all of them. I am infatuated with the capacity for growth that all scientific fields encompass. I came to a beautiful realization when I attended that genetics seminar - I may not know the path that lies ahead, but I do know that I am irrevocably in love with science.