Mel Videto: Her Interests
Julia Fouts
Many high schoolers do what is required of them; they do the schoolwork that they have been conditioned to do their whole lives. The interesting aspects of students’ lives do not come from their academic career, but, instead, their individual interests. Separate interests give people their individuality, and it is important to listen to each others’ passions. One such student who has found her own passion is Mel Videto, a junior at Homer High School. Mel’s interests consist of anything which involves animals. She has been riding horses for the majority of her life, and she volunteers at a veterinary clinic whenever she can.
Q: How long have you been riding horses?
A: Since I was eight. You do the math.
Q: What about it interests you?
A: Since I was a wee little thing, I’ve had an interest in animals, especially horses. I’ve always had an unhealthy obsession with horses; I don’t know why.
Q: Do you see yourself in a career based around animals?
A: When I was in middle school and ninth grade, I had an interest in being a vet. But very recently, I have realized that it would be really cool to become a film director in communications instead or maybe an engineer. They are more interesting, as of right now, to me.
Q: What do you do at the vet clinic?
A: I observe examinations or help them. I used to be the “vet-tech-tech” where I’d be their assistant and I would help lint roll and wrap things up for cleaning. I would pet the animals a lot. I would watch surgeries...and just you know, help out in general even though I’m useless.
Q: How often to do you volunteer there?
A: I used to do it every Wednesday and more during the summer, but now that school is becoming more horrible, I had to cut back to every other week...but it’s still helpful.
Q: Why did you start volunteering there?
A: When I was 13, we owned a cat and we took him to the vet for his check-ups and the doctor, Doctor Wood, said that if I was really interested, when I was 14, I could start shadowing there. So of course when I turned 14, I started going there and just hanging out.
Q: Anything else you’d like to add?
A: What turned me off from being the vet was probably a bunch of the surgeries. I don’t mind spaying and neutering, but all the gross ones, like when you’re amputating this or declawing that, and also putting them down- l’m not really sure I am the person for that because it’s really hard watching an animal just die.
Q:So then you started thinking of other things to do and you thought of film director?
A: For a while I didn’t know what I was going to do, and then I started watching a bunch of T.V. shows and I was like “woah how do they do that?” I’m just really interested in how that stuff works.
After talking with Mel, it is clear that one person can have more than one passion. Throughout her life, Mel has enjoyed spending time with animals, which shows through her horse-back riding and volunteer work at the vet clinic. She also works hard in school, as she is working extra hard to get through the challenges of junior year. Her newfound passion is understanding the mechanics of directing and engineering. Mel, along with other students at Homer High School, has passions and interests which make her an individual; they will allow her to grow and prosper throughout her life.
