Lauren Clinkenbeard is not your average seventeen year old with a life of leisure

Most people would be intimidated by living in such a big city, Lauren Clinkenbeard is not one of them. Fort Wayne is Indiana’s second biggest city, and that’s where Lauren thrives. She’s not only a summer lifeguard but also a tough softball player, but that’s not what sets her apart from the crowd.

It’s easy to become another plain face among the rest but Lauren is far from it. She has goals in her life, and tough ones at that. Growing up in suburban area most people are not used to working long summer hours on a farm. Lauren is different, working on her grandparents’ farm growing up gave her an intense yearning for a life dedicated to working around animals. A life that actually contains quite grueling work, along with many more years of intense education.  

“Veterinary school is four years undergrad and then you proceed four years of the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,” Lauren Clinkenbeard said, ”Getting into a veterinary program can sometimes harder than medical one.” Going to veterinary is what Lauren is quite set on. After graduating from Carroll High School she plans to attend Purdue University in the Fall of 2019. A hard admission process with only a lucky eighty-four veterinary students a year. For Lauren, that means a lot of hard work in not only her schooling but in her active social life trying to balance the two. A path that she is willing to take, with many hardships and unknowns awaiting her.

“I just have to make sure this is what I want to do for my life. It’s the only option I’ve ever had in my life as to what I want to do.” Lauren proclaimed with a sense of confidence in herself. A teen on the verge of adulthood, who really has worked all her life for the chance of achieving her dream. From late night studying sessions to maintain her GPA to helping out with the horses on her grandparents’ farm, Lauren is a hard worker. Let’s just say she’s not your average Joe.

Lauren working on her upcoming assignment for the High School Journalism Institute for 2018 in which she is able to let her explore her creative side. Showing people that she is able to not only be a strict hard worker but allows herself to have fun.