A 14-year-old girl and a pig named O'Malley

Some people blow me away with their amazingness (yes, I know that's not a real word) and 14-year-old Sydney Morrow is one of them. Unlike a lot of people, instead of just talking about something, she took the initiative to start making her dreams come true.

You see, a couple of weeks ago, Sydney wrote News10 and sent us the cutest picture of her and the pig she was rasising for Future Farmers of America.  She wanted the station to come out and meet her pig, O'Malley, and maybe buy him at the El Dorado County Fair auction. 

I know writing a letter is just a small thing, but that's all it took to get my attention. While I wasn't able to buy the pig, I just had to meet this teen that made things happen -- and of course, her pig named O'Malley.

"I knew I was going to join FFA for a while. I was looking forward to it even before I got to high school," said Sydney.

Sydney is a freshman at Ponderosa High School and it turns out that the photo she sent in was the first time she had raised a pig. But she is definitely a girl with a plan. She told me her plan was to raise a market hog for the next four years, auction it off and put the money towards her college education.

She says raising O'Malley, who she named after a character in Grey's Anatomy, was both rewarding and challenging, but no matter how hard it was, she would raise pigs again. Her daily, year-long course involved taking care of O'Malley from the time he was weened until fair day. She says the whole process taught her valuable lessons such as how patience and dedication can pay off.

"I didn't expect the pig to be so hard to train. I have to clean him, feed him and do all this stuff to get him ready for the fair," said Sydney. "The hardest part was getting him to walk in the arena. The first time I tried, he wouldn't even go down. He gets grumpy sometimes and then there is nothing you can do."

Getting the animal ready for the judging at the fair is important and all 30 kids in her class were faced the same struggles. Not only did Sydney have to make sure O'Malley was well-exercised and toned in the right areas, she would have to get them in front of the judges or else he will be disqualified. She also had to make sure her pig was groomed -which means Sydney needed to bath O'Malley.

But Sydney isn't the only Ponderosa teen with a passion for animals and agriculture. There are 30 students in her class and some of them are from farming families.

"My family has been farming for six generations," said Rachel Bacchi. Rachel is raising three lambs and one goat this year.

Sean Golden, 16, also comes from a farming family. This year is his third time raising cattle.

"Cattle is a long process," said Sean. "Right now I have a three. I'm going to auction the steer this year and then breed the other two to get another calf."

Ponderosa high school started their Future Farmers of America (FFA) program in 1964 and it's never waned in popularity.

"We always have quite a lot of kids that want to get involved," said 16-year-old Sara Arsenault, regional FFA reporter. "We have an officer team that starts recruitment at middle schools to raise awareness and get students interested."

The program helps students learn the process of farming and the work involved. In the 2009-2010 school year, 210 students signed up for the Ponderosa FFA/Ag Department. Classes included everything from Agricultural Science, Ag Biology and Animal Science to Floral Design and Animal Health (pre-vet training). Many of the teens who take the program end up in agricultural fields or working with animals, which is why Sydney took the class.

"I really want to be a marine biologist or zoologist as I've always been in love with animals. My dream school is in Monterey because I heard they have a really good marine biology school," Sydney said.

The El Dorado County Fair is less than a week away. Sydney is nearly ready, but the hardest part is still to come. Her pig O'Malley is now about 200 pounds, and after watching him grow from a piglet to maturity, she knows it's going to be hard to auction him off and say goodbye.

"I'm probably going to end up crying," said Sydney. "It's going to be hard knowing I won't see him again."

Isn't she amazing?