SCHOLARSHIPS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT RESEARCH AND EDUCATION The NSW SMBA Trust is pleased to have endorsed Amelia McCrabb, Wanganella, for scholarships through the Charles Sturt University in 2024 and the RAS Foundation Rural Scholar program in 2025. These scholarships provided financial support for Amelia to complete her studies in Veterinary Science at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga. Tell us a bit about the motivation behind pursuing a veterinary career. According to Mum and Dad, I’ve always enjoyed being around animals. Growing up on the family farm led to animals being an intrinsic part of my life and I can’t picture my life without them. From a very young age, my siblings and I were tasked with the job of socialising my grandmother’s kelpie puppies – something that not many other kids can say was a regular occurrence in their life. In addition to growing up with animals at my fingertips, I think that from a young age I understood that our sheep and cattle were how the family derived our livelihood and that, by extension, looking after the sheep and cows meant that everyone was happiest. Some of my earliest memories are of my sister and I driving around feeding sheep with Mum and Dad during the early years of the ‘Millennium Drought’. I have also been privileged to know many great vets in my short life, one of whom is my uncle, and I guess they planted the seed from early on that being a vet was something I might like to pursue in the future. What have been some of the major challenges you’ve faced with your studies and how have you overcome these? The biggest challenge I have faced with my studies came in June 2023, during the mid-year break of my fourth year, when my mum was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer. Being one of the most aggressive types, this caused a complete disruption to family life. Mum travelled to Melbourne weekly for treatment for six months and then had to make additional trips to Melbourne for further treatment for the next year. Luckily for us, Mum is now in remission and going well, however, during that time I was balancing completing uni work with doing my best to help out at home to try and relieve some of the stress for my parents. Luckily, I have some incredible friends and family who all reached out and supported me and my family during this time. How have the scholarships you’ve received helped with your studies? The final 12 months of my degree have been made up of three-week rotations in different vet clinics across the country. These rotations are entirely self-funded by vet students. We are responsible for finding and funding our own accommodation for these placements. The scholarships I have been fortunate to receive in the past 12 months have gone towards my travel to and from placements as well as accommodation costs and everyday living expenses. What are your plans beyond university and what are your ultimate career goals? Immediately after my final exams, I plan to take a couple of holidays to celebrate the end of this five and a half year degree. After that I’ll be helping Dad with one last ram sale prep before doing some vet work with my uncle for the remainder of the year and then starting a full time job in the new year. Ultimately, I would love to learn how to laparoscopically AI sheep and to work with Merino producers to help further their genetic gains. One day, I would like to own my own vet business focusing on production animals, in particular reproduction work. – 137 –
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