Granderson

Terry and Kennedy discuss their experiences and aspirations in veterinary school. Terry wants to become an equine vet and Kennedy is interested in companion animals. They both share their motivations for pursuing this career path, including early exposure to veterinary programs. They chose Virginia Tech for their undergraduate studies because of the strong animal science program and the presence of a vet school. They discuss why they didn't choose an HBCU, citing academic focus and career goals as the main factors. Both are actively gaining experience in the field through internships and student board positions. They also touch on the topic of minority representation in veterinary medicine, highlighting the importance of equity and the support they have received through scholarships and opportunities. They conclude by thanking each other and signing off. Hello everyone, welcome to the Journey Towards a Brighter Future podcast. I am your host Terry Granderson and yeah and I'm here with Kennedy Randolph. So today we're going to be talking about vet school and why someone might want to go and her journey towards going to vet school and yeah we're going to talk about our experiences and how we're navigating this wonderful journey. So I'm going to start off. My name is Terry. I'm from Richmond, Virginia. I am a sophomore majoring in animal and poultry sciences on the pre-vet track and I would like to go to vet school to become an equine vet. So here's Kennedy's take. Yeah so I'm Kennedy as I say. I'm also a sophomore from Richmond, Virginia. Animal science major, pre-vet track. I do want to, I want to do companion animals. So that's what I'm interested in right now. All right thank you for that. So I have a couple questions for you today. So the first one is what made you want to become a veterinarian? So what made me want to come become a veterinarian was I was in eighth grade actually. You know my county offers what you call specialty centers which focus on specific careers but they didn't have any careers that really piqued my interest but my mom really wanted me to join them. But another thing that my county offered was a technical center and on this technical center they did have a veterinary assistance program and so on eighth grade I knew I wanted to do that when I got older. So rolling around junior year of high school I was accepted into the program when I started and I finished the program and I was just like I was like yes this is what I love. Veterinary medicine is great. I just this is where I see myself. Wow that's an amazing story. So I kind of have a similar take. I was very young when I decided that I wanted to become a veterinarian. I always was involved with animals you know loved being around them and I was thinking to myself like what could I do to be around animals all day but also help them in some way and I came up with being a veterinarian. So ever since then I've been chugging along and trying to stay on track. So I have another question for you. Why did you pick Virginia Tech for your undergraduate study? I picked Virginia Tech because like I said I knew I wanted to be a vet and I knew Virginia Tech had a vet school and also in the class that I had took the veterinary assistance class we have talked about colleges and you know colleges that have good animal science programs and Virginia Tech was top of the list for in-state. And I also knew I wanted to stay in-state because I wanted to be not you know super close to home but not super far from home. I also knew that I just wanted to be somewhere where I have a legacy at. You know I have my dad went here. I have some other family members that came here and the fact that I had the vet school was really what sold me honestly. I agree. I definitely chose Tech too because of the vet school associated with them but also it was close to home and I knew a lot of people that were coming here so it's kind of like a good median of everything. So another question I have is why didn't you choose a HBCU to attend? Yeah why did you choose a PWI instead of HBCU since you know you're a minority and those schools are kind of targeted towards minorities? So I actually I would have loved to go to an HBCU honestly get that experience. You know everything is just a really great community from what I see and what I hear from friends that do go to HBCU. However because I knew I was more focused on my career and I decided that I was going to choose the best school for me academically which is why I chose Virginia Tech instead of an HBCU. You know the vet school like I was saying earlier the vet school the animal science program everything here is super hands-on super just immersive and that's what I really enjoy about Virginia Tech. So I'm glad I didn't choose Virginia Tech. I would have loved to go to HBCU maybe if I was deciding to study something else but yeah for my career I chose Virginia Tech. Piggybacking off what you said I definitely do agree. I definitely would have loved to go to HBCU but Tech really did have all the the boxes that I was looking for and going back to what I said earlier that that school that's attached here it really sold me on coming here. So another question I have is how are you working towards reaching your goal into becoming a vet nanny? I'm actually doing quite a lot to work towards reaching my goal. Right now I'm working at a vet clinic gaining experience in the veterinary field. When I go back home for summer I'll also be working in another vet clinic. You know just gaining experience I've also applied for a lot of student board positions which is very important specifically for Virginia and Maryland because they have a holistic type of application. So it's really important that you know everything isn't specifically academic that you have some social things that's just regular. Leadership roles are a great resume booster but yeah. Is that it? Okay I also agree too I've been a veterinary assistant for the last three years. I also did some dog resort kennel tenured stuff so I kind of did my tone about everything to prepare me for that school and stuff. So the last question I have is how do you feel as a minority has affected your path towards becoming a veterinarian compared to other non-minority classmates? Do you feel like you have an edge up or worse or off or? I feel like a great thing to talk about in this conversation is equity. You know not everyone gets the same stool. For example a great example that I like to use is trying to look over a fence. If you're taller you don't need as big of a stool as someone who's shorter. Someone who's shorter is going to need a bigger stool. So I feel like it's very equitable here. I've actually been a part of a great scholarship group for minorities and pre-vets where I get to finish my undergrad in three years and then apply um sophomore year actually which is what I'm working on now. And we also we get a guaranteed interview you know I just feel like these things are great resources for us and great opportunities for minorities but I wouldn't really say I have a super leg up because of um you know things that I've had to work harder than my peers. I agree. I agree. I think that there are a lot of opportunities to help support us um but not really give us a leg up you know. So yeah. So that's the end of our podcast. I would like to thank Kennedy for joining us and we'll see you guys on the next podcast. Bye.