Thank you to all of the Targeting Excellence sponsors for your financial support! It is great to know there is a group of people who want to support food animal agriculture and its future. This scholarship will help me to fulfill my life-long goal of becoming a large animal veterinarian. Following graduation, I look forward to giving back to an industry that means so much to me. I appreciate your generosity and cannot thank you enough!
Hometown: Wanamingo, MN
School: University of Minnesota
Major / Species: Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine
Career Goals: My name is Rachel Friese and I am currently a third year student at the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine. I am interested in pursuing a career in food animal medicine because I believe it is an exciting and rewarding profession. My primary interest is in dairy cattle, particularly dairy cattle reproduction, which stems from my dairy background. I grew up on a registered Holstein dairy farm in southeast Minnesota and was involved in 4-H, FFA, and Minnesota Junior Holstein Association. I became interested in medicine at a young age and have worked hard to reach my goal of becoming a veterinarian ever since. I chose to attend the University of Minnesota and obtain a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science. I was accepted into the VetFAST Program which gave me an early admissions decision to vet school during my freshman year of college. I was involved in the Gopher Dairy Club on campus and attended the ADSA conference every year. I also enrolled in courses that I believed would be beneficial to my future career such as Ruminant Nutrition, Animal Growth and Development, Animal Physiology, Animal Breeding, Veterinary Entomology, and Dairy Production Systems Management. I have participated in many internships which include working as a herd health manager at Bombay Dairy, working at an organic dairy farm, completing a Veterinary Internship at the Select Sires bull stud, and a Professional Services Internship at Trans Ova Genetics. While in vet school I remain active in many organizations which include serving as the president of the Production Animal Medicine Club and maintaining membership in the Small Ruminant and Camelid Club, Christian Veterinary Fellowship, and the Pathology Club. I have attended the AABP Conference three years in a row and enjoy learning about the latest advances in bovine medicine. In my spare time, I also work at the University’s Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in necropsy where I assist pathologists with sample collection and submission. Upon graduation from veterinary school, I plan to obtain a job in private practice in rural Minnesota or Wisconsin where I can work primarily with cattle. I would like to provide consulting services to my clients to help them become more profitable and make educated on-farm decisions. Another future goal of mine is to provide reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer and IVF services to my clients in order to maximize genetic potential and increase reproductive efficiency within their herd. My main goal is to help producers increase their profitability while ensuring a safe food supply and animal welfare. My passion for production animal medicine, as well as my dedication to the industry, makes me confident that I will succeed as a future food animal veterinarian.