During my freshman year of high school I wrote a letter to Hometown Animal Hospital (a local veterinary clinic) asking them if I could become an intern. I was accepted, and only a couple of weeks into my internship, a man brought in his Shiba Inu and told us how she was having trouble giving birth, and the decision was made to perform a C-section. Soon after the dog was put under, I was handed a puppy with the order...

I am a white female who grew up in an upper middle class family. From a diversity viewpoint, I wasn't a very good candidate. I knew going into my college applications I was going to have to find other ways to stand out. BYU especially is a very competitive school, and they turn away half...