AHS students among first to receive new vet scholarships

Two Aurora seniors have a running start toward their goal of becoming veterinarians as recipients of this year’s Nebraska Elite 11 Veterinarian Program scholarships.
Emma Ellis-Sack and Kash Majerus both have a passion for animals and have expressed interest in the veterinary field, which prompted them to apply for a new scholarship program supported by Gov. Jim Pillen. As a veterinarian himself, Pillen understands the need for young people to enter the field, especially in rural areas of Nebraska.
“Gov. Pillen proposed this to the state and the goal of Elite 11 is to attract more food animal veterinarians to rural Nebraska,” said Dan Pachta, owner of the Aurora Veterinary Clinic and president of the Aurora School Board. “They can be mixed animal veterinarians, but they have to go to an area where they’re doing at least 50 percent food animal, which includes cattle, hogs, sheep and goats.”
A lot of the younger veterinarians are going to bigger cities, Pachta noted, so this program, now in its second year, could be a big benefit to rural Nebraska. 
“It is definitely going to help entice some of the students to become food animal veterinarians more and it could be a game-changer for them if they can get all the way through as the reduced tuition is really huge,” Pachta said. “If they get into the true Elite 11, that’s full tuition for all four years of vet school, so you’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s a cool program I wish I would have had because it took me a lot of years to pay off my loans.”
Ellis-Sack and Majerus are both serving as interns at the Aurora Vet Clinic, getting exposure and hands-on experience daily with various aspects of large animal care.
“I didn’t grow up in an agricultural family, but I’ve always had a passion for animals,” Ellis-Sack shared. “A few years ago I came to the Vet Clinic and began shadowing, doing menial tasks to get my foot in the door, and I eventually got hired. I got to participate in a lot of surgeries and help take care of the animals, which encouraged me to open more doors.”
Ellis-Sack also works at a vet clinic in Grand Island, trying to get as much experience in the field as possible. Majerus said he too knew from a young age that he wanted to work with animals.
“It’s something I’ve always been interested in,” he said, noting that he is active in 4-H and FFA and already has his own small cow/calf operation. “I love production animal health, working with cattle and hogs and all of the animals that we can put back into our food system. I think this scholarship will really help push me through college and also motivate me within college just to keep maintaining the requirements for the scholarship.”

About Elite 11
Approximately 20 first-time freshman will receive the Nebraska Production Animal Health Scholarship (Elite 11), which covers 50 percent of their tuition for the first two years of study in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at UN-L. After the second year, up to 13 of the original 20 recipients will be awarded a continuation scholarship, which covers 100 percent of tuition for their third and fourth years of study. 
Scholarship recipients will participate in the Nebraska Aspiring Production Animal Veterinarians Program (NAPAV), and after completing their undergraduate studies 11 will be selected as the “Elite 11,” receiving 100 percent tuition and fees for UNL’s Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, which is a four-year program of study in itself. The one stipulation of the Elite 11 is that they are required to stay in Nebraska and practice as a production animal veterinarian for eights years or pay back their school expenses.
The opportunity to work in rural Nebraska and receive significant financial aid for their veterinary studies appealed to both Ellis-Sack and Majerus.
“I really like working at the Aurora Vet Clinic and I think it would be a good place to come back to get started,” Majerus said. “The Vet Clinic has opened up a lot of opportunities for me and I’m starting to learn a lot more of the vet terminology and stuff, so I’m learning the ropes before I dive in. It’s really interesting to get to know that before I go to college.”
When she heard about the Elite 11 program, she decided to apply immediately.
“For me, financially, after losing my dad, I needed that money,” she said. “I knew this is what I wanted to do, so I was on top of it, applied and set everything up beforehand.”

‘Door is wide open’
Doug Kittle, AHS principal, said he is thrilled to see two Aurora students selected for the Elite 11 program.
“I think this is a compliment to our science department and our ag department for providing these students the academic piece to spark their interest in vet science,” he said. “Another piece of this is that a lot of other schools don’t offer what we do in terms of an internship program. Kash and Emma have been working down at the vet clinic all school year, and Emma even before that as part of a partnership Dr. Pachta has been willing to form in getting our students hands-on experience. That’s been a piece that these students have taken advantage of and I’m extremely excited for the opportunities it has given Emma and Kash.”
Kittle said that he views the Elite 11 program as the veterinary science equivalent of the K-HOP or R-HOP programs, which give students scholarship opportunities in the medical field.
“If you look at the breakdown of opportunities, not just financially but the educational piece that is going to be available to these two students, the door is wide open,” Kittle added. “Just like the K-HOP and R-HOP programs, rural Nebraska needs these students to come back, so if this is a piece that opens doors for rural Nebraska, then all the better.”
Ellis-Sack is the daughter of Angie Sack and the late Scott Ellis.
Majerus is the son of Ryan and Samantha Majerus. Both will enroll as freshman next fall in the UN-L’s animal science program.