2005 Young Achievers

Looking for veterinary medicine career

(Fourth in a series)

Fourteen-year-old Allison Langenfeld wants to go to veterinary college. She also has put in lots of volunteer time with rescued animals and has three dogs of her own.

Last year, she got an A+ on a report that studied career opportunities in veterinary medicine.

Allison Langenfeld

Allison also was president of the student council at Holy Child Catholic School in Arnold, Mo. And she has been on the school's honor roll ever since she was in 5th grade.

She's also been active in church events and in sports.

This combination of academic achievement, leadership, outside activities and community service helped to earn Allison a 2005 Gateway Young Achiever of the Year award. The award from the International Leadership Network includes a $1,000 college scholarship.

(In May, Young Saint Louis.com published names of the ten 2005 Young Achiever. In June, YSL.com started a series of profiles of elementary and middle school Achievers. This profile of Allison Langenfeld is the fourth of what will be a seven-part series.)

This month, Allison entered Rosati-Kain High School in St. Louis as a freshman.

At Holy Child School, kids are encouraged to do volunteer community service in a wide variety of activities. For Allison, a lot of her emphasis was on animals and small kids.

One of her favorites was the Adopt a Stray program, now called Adopt and Shop. The program rescues stray animals, rehabilitates them and then tries to find new homes.

Actually, two of the three dogs at Allison's house started as "foster" dogs.

Her parents purchased her first dog when Allison was two. That's Susie, a Labrador.

Rosie, a basset hound, came next. She's a "rescued" dog that now has been adopted. Finally, there's Mabel, a coonhound, who is still in "foster" dog status.

Allison said, "I love all types of animals." She's circulated flyers in the neighborhood, offering to "dog sit" pets while the families are away.

She also likes to help kids, both those her age and also younger kids.

She volunteers at school and church to mind kids while parents are in meetings.

Holy Child School also has a mentoring program where older kids help younger ones with homework. She said she's tutored in social studies, science, literature and math.

"I like the tutoring in science the best. I like all kinds of science," she said. But, she stressed the tutors only help kids understand the homework, not do it for them.

Allison still remembers one pre-schooler she met while working in summer school. She said the youngster was "a good boy but rambunctious and didn't always focus."

Later, during the school year, she met up with him while helping a teacher with a craft project. He needed some one-on-one help to finish his craft, she said.

Allison must have made an impression. Her mother, Diana, works at the school in food service. She said the boy would come up to her and say, "Where's Kenny's Allison?"

In 7th grade, she was named secretary of the student council at Holy Child. Then, in 8th grade, she became president. The council positions are chosen by teachers after they study essays from the candidates on why they want the position.

"The teachers do the choosing, rather than the students. The school doesn't want the election to be just a popularity contest," Allison said.

As president, Allison said she was responsible for seeing all council projects "got done on time." Those included student-run fund-raising projects as well as various safety drills.

One of the big fund-raisers last year was the Mission Carnival. Individual student groups developed booths and other activities to raise money for missions. The 8th grade boy and girl who raised the most money were crowned "Penny King and Queen," Allison said.

After the events were over, the council president and treasurer were responsible for counting the money and preparing it for bank deposit.

In high school, Allison plans to stay active. But, she's changing her athletic focus. She took dance lessons for years but decided to focus on soccer and basketball in high school.

This fall, she's going to play on a CYC 9th grade soccer team. Then, in the winter and spring, she's going to try out for Rosati-Kain's basketball and soccer teams.

But, she's keeping her eye on veterinary school. She already has information on two colleges that offer veterinary science. One sent a list of high school courses she should take to be prepared. "There're lots of opportunities in the veterinary field," she said.