Most children change their minds about their career every five seconds, but I have always known what I want to be: a veterinarian. My parents are still hoping I will be one of those mercurial children. “I want a doctor in the family,” my mom hinted to me as I was looking at my ideal college, “And why do you want to go there? Go with your brother and sister to Arlington. It’s cheaper since you have a place to live already,” she complained but I was tired of hearing it “No! Being a veterinarian is what makes me happy,” I frowned at her. Suddenly, I began to formulate my rebuttal to oppose her. I was going to explain my love for animals, which is evident when volunteering at the humane society, and use all the positive information I researched on being a veterinarian as evidence to support why it is the best career path for me. This was a result from being part of the NHI (National Hispanic Institute), a leadership program focusing on debate, as well as last year’s AP English III class which focuses heavily on argumentation. It seems silly now because she only exchanged looks with my father. But it did prepare me for what happened next. My father stared his contemplative green eyes straight at me with his glasses at the edge of his nose and head tilted forward. “How are you goingto support me when I get old? As a doctor it would be easy,” he spoke to me with complete curiosity and warning. I explained how I was going to minor in business and run my own veterinary clinic, and how I’d manage my money well so even if I do not make as much as he would like I would easily be able to support him. “Ok,” he said, “So what are your plans?” “Texas A&M Corpus Christi is a great school with a pre-veterinary program and it is located three hours away from here,” I began to reason, “It’s a lot closer than Arlington (which is nine hours away) and from there I would graduate and transfer to Texas A&M University where I can obtain my DVM.” I reminded him of all the trouble my...