Your Generosity Makes a Difference - School of Veterinary Medicine ...

Chad Malinak, Class of 2012“Animals have always been a huge part of my life,” said ChadMalinak, third-year veterinary student. “I have always had apet in my life. As I got older I accompanied my sister whenshe participated in dog shows, then I got my own Pointer,Shaker, to compete myself. Shaker was a tremendouscomfort when my father passed away when I was in highschool. Shaker was there for me, and I realized I wanted togive something back to animals, so veterinary medicine wasthe career path I wanted to follow.”Chad, who is originally from Harvey, La.,studied at Louisiana Tech and was mentoredby Dr. William Green, the pre-veterinaryadvisor at Tech. He chose to apply to theLSU SVM after several visits to the school. In2010, Chad received the Bayou Kennel ClubScholarship and the AKC Veterinary OutreachAward.“The scholarship means more than just lessdebt I have to worry about when I graduate,” said Chad “Ithelps tremendously since I do not have outside monetary help“These scholarshipstruly mean moreto me than anyamount of wordscould ever explain,”said Erin.since my father passed away. It makes me grateful that thereare people and organizations that support us as hardworkingveterinary students and want to help us reach our goals ofbecoming doctors. People can make a difference and helpsomeone reach their goal of becoming a veterinarian. As thecost of tuition keeps rising, it will help students who do nothave outside family support. I know I will donate to supportLSU SVM scholarships once I am able.”Bayou Kennel Club, Inc. ScholarshipThe Bayou Kennel Club, Inc. Scholarship provides two $1,000scholarships to Northeast Louisiana high school graduatesbased on scholastic ability, financial need,and activities.“We established the scholarship and firstmade contributions to fund it in 1986,” saidPat Booker, treasurer of the Bayou KennelClub. “We have continued to fund thesescholarships each year since. A total of 50scholarships have been awarded to SVMstudents.”The Bayou Kennel Club is chartered as a non-profitorganization with the mission of promoting the interests ofpure bred dogs. “All of the club’s available funds annuallygo to mostly dog-related situations, such as helping lawenforcement canine units, book donations (particularlyabout dogs) to parish and university libraries, donations tocanine-related charities, and even to disaster relief. We fundscholarships at LSU, Mississippi State University, and theUniversity of Louisiana at Monroe from our dog shows.”“Our basic objective is to assist veterinary students whograduated from northeast Louisiana high schools,” added Pat.“It is our hope that these students will graduate and returnto northeast Louisiana to practice. We know that attendingcollege (particularly veterinary school) is both expensiveand time-critical. We hope that we ease the financial burdenof these students and possibly allow them to concentratemore on their studies and maybe not worry about financialsituations.”Erin Wilkins, Class of 2012Born and raised in Jonestown, Pa., Erin applied to the LSUSVM because of its zoological program and exotic animal