Honor Society® member
Trinity Barth
Alpaca Keeper at Blank Park Zoo
- animal science
- Class of 2024
- Des Moines, Iowa
Member since March 2024
About
Hey there, I'm Trinity! I graduated with honors from Penn Foster Online High School in August 2024, and I will be attending Iowa State University in fall 2025 to major in Animal Science!
Growing up in the city, I was never exposed to agriculture or livestock of any sort. The only exposure I had was during the Iowa State Fair, when my mom walked me around the livestock barns. However, that all changed in 2021, when I was accepted to the Agriscience program at the Central Campus Environmental & Agricultural Sciences Academy, and I joined FFA. That winter, I saved a dying lamb, and that's when I decided I wanted to show sheep. I kept my very first show lamb, which started my Sheep Production SAE operation. To this day, my operation (showing and breeding sheep) is worth over $22,000! I have served in multiple leadership roles in FFA, and earned many top awards at the state and national levels.
Other than FFA, I also decided to join 4-H to get even more involved in the ag industry. I served as the club president and secretary, and I also served on the Polk County Council and on the Polk County Fair Breakfast Committee. I also received many awards at the local and state levels.
Outside of agriculture,
Education
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Iowa State University
Animal Science/Pre-Veterinary Medicine
2025 – Present
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Penn Foster High School
2024
Honors and awards
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2023 Iowa FFA Veterinary Science CDE Top Individual
While competing in the Iowa FFA State Veterinary Science CDE, I was named the Top Individual for achieving the highest individual score - a perfect score on the General Knowledge Exam.
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2023 Iowa FFA Veterinary Science CDE Champion Team
My team was named the Champion Team in the Iowa FFA State Veterinary Science CDE, and we advanced to nationals in Indiana.
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2023 Iowa FFA Veterinary Science CDE - Written Scenario Response Top Team
My team was named the Top Team for the Written Scenario Response area in the Iowa FFA State Veterinary Science CDE.
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2023 Iowa FFA Veterinary Science CDE - General Knowledge Exam Top Team
My team was named the Top Team for the General Knowledge Exam area in the Iowa FFA State Veterinary Science CDE.
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1st Place High Senior Individual - Iowa 4-H State Livestock Skillathon
Placed 1st as High Senior Individual at the Iowa 4-H State Livestock Skillathon for excellence in wool judging, meat and breed identification, and farm and veterinary equipment knowledge.
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5th Place Team - 2023 Iowa State Fair Sheep Skillathon
My team and I placed 5th overall in the Iowa State Fair Sheep Skillathon, where we were tested on areas such as reproduction, tool identification, feed identification, veterinary care, and more.
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2nd Place Individual - November 2023 Texas A&M National Veterinary Science CDE
Earned 2nd Place Individual for demonstrating advanced veterinary science skills in anatomy, nutrition, disease ID, and clinical procedures at the national Texas A&M CDE.
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Silver Medal Individual - 2023 National FFA Veterinary Science CDE
Received the Silver Medal Individual award at the National FFA Veterinary Science CDE for strong performance in clinical skills, disease diagnosis, breed identification, and veterinary math. I was also the top scoring individual on my team.
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First Cyclones Scholarship (Full Tuition, $9,252)
Honored with the First Cyclones Scholarship, a highly selective full-tuition award bestowed upon first-generation incoming freshmen for exemplary academic achievement and proven leadership excellence.
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Sandra White and Son Dirk White Wiley Scholarship
A prestigious $3,000 merit-based scholarship recognizing financial need and academic achievement for self-reported only children at Iowa State University, with eligibility for up to eight semesters of support contingent on maintaining a 3.00 GPA and full-
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Iowa State University True Scholar Award
Recipient of the Iowa State University True Scholar Award, recognizing exceptional academic achievement for maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout high school.
Goals and interests
- Career goal
Veterinarian
- Graduate school interests
Iowa State University School of Veterinary Medicine
- Outside the classroom
- Showing market lambs
- Showing breeding sheep
- Showing market pigs
- Agriscience projects
- Gymnastics
- Track & Field
- Veterinary science (companion & equine)
- Livestock skillathons
Experience
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Alpaca Keeper
Blank Park Zoo
May 2025 – Sep 2025
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Kennel Assistant
Animal Doctors Veterinary Clinic
Jul 2023 – Jun 2025
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Gymnastics Coach
Chow's Gymnastics & Dance Institute
Jul 2022 – Feb 2025
Volunteering
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Maintained multiple FFA chapter teams in a holding room and walked each team to their competition room. Also maintained records of which teams have gone, scratched, etc. and reported to LDE judges when teams were ready to compete.
South Central FFA District (Iowa)
Mar 2024
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Working with Undeniably Dairy and GSGI to serve ice cream to fairgoers at the 2023 Iowa State Fair
Girl Scouts of Greater Iowa
Aug 2023
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Educated the public about youth livestock projects and how I prepare my lambs for shows, how I take care of them at home, and how I train them.
Iowa State Fair "Have You Herd?"
Aug 2023 – Aug 2024
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Voted on Iowa state FFA officers based off of what I believe is in the best interest of the 5000+ members of the Iowa FFA Association.
Iowa FFA Association (Des Moines FFA Chapter)
Apr 2023
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Voted on district FFA officers based on what I believe is in the best interest of the member of the (Iowa) South Central FFA District.
South Central FFA District (Iowa)
Mar 2023
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Guiding children through educational activities about agriculture and farming.
Iowa State Fair "Little Hands on the Farm"
Aug 2022
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Working alongside a veterinarian and supervising adult and baby livestock in the Animal Learning Center during the Iowa State Fair. Animals include dairy cattle, bottle calves, turkeys, laying hens, hatching chicks, piglets & sows, and ducks.
Iowa State Fair "Animal Learning Center"
Aug 2022 – Aug 2024
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Educated customers about various plants such as veggies, fruits, herbs, annuals, perennials, banana trees, succulents, hanging baskets, and houseplants. Also continuously cared for plants in the greenhouse through summer months during the Spring Plant Sale and occasionally ran the cash register.
Des Moines Agriscience/FFA
May 2022 – Jun 2024
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Caring for livestock including market hogs, piglets & sow, market sheep, breeding ewes (sheep) & lambs, market goats, breeding does (goats) kids (baby goats), laying hens, market broilers (chickens), and chicks.
Des Moines Agriscience/FFA
Aug 2021 – Jun 2024
Languages
- Spanish (Spain) Beginner
