FELICITY, Ohio – As she was growing up, Emma Brandenburg’s family owned a show pig operation in southwest Ohio. While watching veterinarians perform c-sections on their sows, she fell in love with veterinary medicine. That love led to an FFA national proficiency award and will eventually lead to a college degree in animal science.

“At my county fair, I would follow around the fair vet and assist him with just about everything,” Brandenburg said. “This motivated me to get a job at Rolling Hills Veterinary Service during my junior year (of high school). I particularly was interested in large animal reproduction. My head start in this industry and in breeding our sows has led me to have a special focus on large animal reproduction.”

Brandenburg was named the FFA’s national proficiency winner in veterinary science – entrepreneurship/placement during the organization’s October convention. Now a freshman at Morehead State University in Morehead, Ky., she is a member of the Felicity-Franklin FFA chapter in Felicity.

Rolling Hills is a small mixed animal practice in Bethel, Ohio. Brandenburg has worked there since December 2022.

“My favorite thing about my job is getting to have such a large impact on seeing the patients leave our clinic better than when they came in,” she said. “However, a close second is bringing new life into the world. Seeing the client’s reactions to the good news of their pet is an indescribable feeling. Reproduction health is something I hold near and dear to my heart because not much comes close to seeing all your hard work pay off during breeding season than that new calf or lamb.”

She started at the clinic as a kennel technician. In that role, her daily duties included cleaning instruments, wrapping packs, cleaning cages and doing laundry. She became a veterinary assistant within six-eight months. The new title brought Brandenburg a raise and new responsibilities.

“I now was trusted with taking out more high-importance tasks, such as running diagnostic tests, assisting in surgical procedures, and handling client communication,” she noted. “My growth within this job title has improved my knowledge about veterinary care and how I communicate with the public and educate others about the industry.”

Brandenburg found out she was a national finalist for the proficiency award from her FFA adviser over the summer. She said her initial reaction was simply that she was thankful.

“I had worked so hard to get to this point, but I still had so much more work to do,” Brandenburg recalled. “After a few months of a break, it was time to start preparing again. We began with my introduction, and everything just hit me all at once. Disbelief set in as I prepared for my interview, but a sudden calm came over me when discussing my proficiency with the judges.

“When you are so passionate about something, talking about it becomes easy. I found this true when being asked questions about my job, it was just so natural to discuss something I loved. Felicity-Franklin hasn’t won a proficiency in quite a while, so I truly wasn’t expecting to win.”

Brandenburg served as an FFA officer her freshman year of high school, and participated in competitions such as livestock judging, national knowledge quiz, poultry, and various agriscience projects. Her conduct of chapter meetings during her freshman year won third in the nation. She said the win made her want to make it to the top more as “being awarded something like that just set my heart on fire for FFA.”

Being a part of FFA has benefited Brandenburg’s communication and leadership skills, she said.

“FFA has given me the ability to feel comfortable doing things that I usually wouldn’t do, like take leadership or speak to a large group of people. Now, I know that I can just about do anything and feel extremely comfortable doing it because of the way FFA encouraged me to.”