Soto given Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship

A Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship is associated with the San Diego County Fair and one of this year's scholarships was awarded to Isai Soto.

Soto, who graduated from Fallbrook High School in June and was a member of Fallbrook's National FFA Organization chapter, was awarded a $1,500 scholarship.

"I'm extremely honored to be getting this," Soto said.

The Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship program works with the San Diego County Fair but is a separate organization with 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.

Most of the money for the scholarships is from livestock auction buyers who then donate their animals back to the fair for resale with those proceeds being used for scholarships while a small amount is from direct donations. The total scholarship amount varies from year to year depending on the amount of donations.

Soto and his family moved from Lake Elsinore to Fallbrook after he completed preschool. He was at Alpha and Omega Academy for kindergarten through fourth grade and also in eighth grade, at Iowa Street School for fifth grade, at Live Oak Elementary School for his sixth-grade academic year, and at Sullivan Middle School when he was in seventh grade.

Soto was in the marching band while at Alpha and Omega Academy, but he was not a member of 4-H before becoming part of Fallbrook High School's agriculture program and joining National FFA Organization. He joined Fallbrook's FFA chapter as a ninth-grader and raised pigs for three years and a steer during his junior year.

Applications for the Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship are available online and the students must return their applications by mid-March. Scholastic grades, extracurricular activities, and fair activity are among the criteria.

In addition to his FFA activity, Soto was in Fallbrook's marching band as a freshman and sophomore, being part of the percussion unit and then the color guard. He dove for Fallbrook High School's swim and dive team for three years and he was the captain of Fallbrook's divers as a senior.

Soto was in the student senate for three years and during his junior year he was on the superintendent's school advisory committee. As a sophomore he was the vice president of Honor House and he also spent a year apiece in the Helping Hands Club and the Model United Nations.

Soto also held National FFA Organization offices. He was the greenhand president as a sophomore, the chapter vice president and the San Diego section secretary as a junior and the chapter recorder and southern region youth president as a senior. During his junior and senior years Soto was also one of California's delegates to the national FFA convention.

The extracurricular activities for Soto also included four years in the California Scholarship Federation. He graduated from Fallbrook High School with a 4.02 grade-point average.

The essays Soto submitted as part of the scholarship application focused on his county fair involvement; one was on his overall county fair involvement and a second was about his experience with the livestock auction. "I wrote about how I look forward to it during summer," Soto said.

Last year Soto's steer which was sold at auction weighed 1,223 pounds. The 2017 auction included Soto's 289-pound hog. The 2016 hog Soto sold at auction weighed 223 pounds.

In his essay Soto added that his county fair experience was his most discussed summer experience after he returned to school.

In April Soto was notified that he would be interviewed for the county fair scholarship. His interview was May 22.

The students are ranked, a bar chart with scores but not names is shown to a selection committee and the committee uses that chart to allocate the scholarship money for each position. Soto was notified of his scholarship at the end of May. "I was really excited about it," he said.

Soto will be attending Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Although Georgetown does not have a college FFA chapter and Soto will not have a National FFA Organization alumni year, he desires an internship with the United States Department of Agriculture or with the Food and Drug Administration.

"I hope to stay involved in agriculture," he said. "I want to stay within the industry."

Georgetown has a government major and Soto will pursue that major as part of his degree.

Soto's sister, Nataly, was the first in the family to attend college. His sister, who is now 24, began with community college and then obtained her degree from Grand Canyon University.

Soto remembers the financial struggles his family had when his sister was attending college, which makes him appreciative of the monetary support of the Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship as well as the scholarship's prestige. "It's not easy for first-generation students to get through college," he said. (Soto and his sister are first-generation Americans.)

A student must also enter an animal at the county fair and the animal must place high enough to qualify for the fair auction. This year Soto sold a 277-pound hog at the auction, although an auctioned animal in a previous year qualifies a student for the Junior Livestock Auction Scholarship.

The pig's name was Sunny and he was a Hampshire cross who was six months old when taken to the county fair. Soto acquired Sunny from Small Town Genetics, which is in the Stanislaus County town of Denair, and raised Sunny for three months.

Sunny placed seventh in the FFA superheavyweight class. Last year's steer was the FFA middleweight reserve champion, which was Soto's only weight class championship or reserve championship. Sunny also did not place in the pig showmanship competition.

This year's junior livestock auction was held June 29. "As much anxiety as it gives me, it's always a thrill," Soto said.

RCS Family purchased Sunny for $3 per pound.

Soto notes the role of his family, friends, and teachers in his scholarship award. "It was because of their support," he said. "I can't wait to make Fallbrook proud."