Wallingford Resident and UConn Student Earns Horse Guard Scholarship

HARTFORD, CT April 30, 2013:  Major Christopher Cain, Commandant of the First Company Governor's Foot Guard, has announced that University of Connecticut students in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture have been awarded scholarships sponsored by the Foot Guard.  The scholarships sponsored by the Foot Guard go to an Animal Science pre-veterinary major and a Pathobiology and Veterinary Science pre-veterinary student.  These scholarships are funded from proceeds of the annual First Company Governor’s Foot Guard Athletic Association Dog Show and Obedience Trials, sponsored by the Foot Guard every February. 

Alison Bush is currently a junior in the Ratcliffe Hicks School of Agriculture pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Pathobiology and Animal Science.  She is a resident of Wallingford and is a 2010 graduate of Lyman Hall High School.  Alison’s interest in pursuing a career in Veterinary science was piqued early in her life when her mother took her to Animal Kingdom in Florida where she observed a veterinarian at work.  While she hasn’t decided on an area of specialization she would like to work with small animals as well as livestock.  Alison is a recipient of a Presidential Scholarship at UConn for being valedictorian of her high school class, received American Society of Animal Science Undergraduate Scholar Recognition and has made the Dean’s list in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources for five semesters.  Alison spent a month in South Africa working with a wildlife veterinarian and trained to care for white lion cubs at a rehabilitation center, she regularly works with an equine veterinarian and is in the third year of research on studying the effects of maternal nutrition in lambs.  In her free time she snowboards in Vermont and has been taking ballet lessons for 16 years.  Ms. Bush has not yet applied to any veterinary schools yet but is considering Colorado State University, University of Wisconsin, University of Pennsylvania and North Caroline State University.

Michelle Forella, a resident of Burlington and a 2009 graduate of Lewis S. Mills High School is a senior at UConn and will be graduating this coming May.  She is enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and will earn a Bachelor of Science with a double major in Animal Science and Pathobiology.  Ms. Forella has been accepted at Cornell University, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Florida and has opted to attend Cornell.  She attributes three factors that contributed to her decision to become a veterinarian and to work with animals.  As a young girl, she wanted to own a horse or become a marine biologist.  In middle and high schools, she discovered a love of science.  Finally, Michelle has a strong drive to help others which becoming a veterinarian will enable her to do; both animals and people.  For the past two years, she has been working in a research project lab studying intrauterine growth retardation using an ovine model, working on finishing her thesis on the subject and she will also be presenting a research poster at the Joint Annula Meeting of the American Society of Animal Science in July.  She thinks that she will pursue work with small animals but has also spent much time working with the livestock a UConn, finding that gratifying also.  She will be able to explore both options in veterinary school.  Ms. Forella has been recognized as a Treibick Scholar, earned the Niel W. Pieper, DVM Scholarship, was a Summer Undergraduate Research Fund Recipient, has been on the Dean’s List at the College of Agriculture and Natural Resource and University of Connecticut Honors Program multiple times and is New England Scholar.