RIPON - Ripon High School senior Kaitlyn Joanne Milam is headed to Fresno State this August.  

Kaitlyn has had the privilege of growing up in Ripon and attending Ripona elementary school from kindergarten through 8th grade and has attended Ripon High all four years. Kaitlyn lives in Ripon with her mother Brandi Rose, her step-father Ken Marsh and younger sister Aimee. She also has 2 dogs, 2 cats and 2 horses. She is the granddaughter of Jessica Rose and the late George S. Rose Jr of Manteca.

Kaitlyn’s activities both at the high school and in the community have spanned from FFA (where she served on many committees and was FFA president her junior year), Girls League, Renaissance, Girl Scouts, 4-H, Relay for Life and recently JROTC.

Early on, Kaitlyn decided to pursue her passion of working with animals and focus her time, education and energies in this area. She volunteered at Ripon Animal Shelter and Care-ousol Therapeutic Riding Facility while working at Barnwood Stables.  Two years ago she began working for Ripon Veterinary Hospital and has learned a lot from Dr. Daniels, Dr. Scarce and the staff. After deciding to pursue a major in Agricultural Education and hopefully someday come back to her community that shares her love of animals and agricultural, she applied to Chico State, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo,  CalPoly Pomona, UC Davis, Montana State and Fresno State. After proudly being accepted into every school, she carefully considered each and visited many of the campuses. Kaitlyn felt that Fresno State and their programs along with the proximity to home were the best fit for her. She will be working on her Agricultural Education major while minoring in English or Animal Sciences. She plans to obtain her Masters in their 30-unit master program.  Kaitlyn is well prepared for the grind of college courses. She has been taking classes at MJC for the past year and already has a year of general education completed to give her that jump start and edge.  Kaitlyn was able to maintain a 3.7 weighted GPA at Ripon High and a 3.8 at MJC.  In addition to Kaitlyn’s coursework, her experiences in FFA and her work at Ripon Vet have well equipped her for the challenges that come with focusing on an upper division education.  

Recently, Kaitlyn was honored with $2500 in scholarships. Brocchini Farms first awarded her a $1000 scholarship at the FFA Awards Banquet.  During the Senior Awards Banquet Kaitlyn received another $1000 scholarship, this time from California Women for Agriculture, and $500 from Ripon Garden Club.  Kaitlyn was humbled to receive the scholarships from these local businesses and plans on making a difference so that their support is honored. She is hoping to hear soon from many other scholarship entities to help her in her collegiate goals.

In Kaitlyn’s spare time, she loves  to read, ride her horse, camp with her family  and spend time with her friends.

Kaitlyn is looking forward to heading to Fresno State and looks forward to the new experiences that college has to offer.