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Class of 2026: From Nerves to NAVLE, Four Years of Questions Finally Answered

Student Experience

Aug 5, 2026

From the Veterinary Scholars Program, Kristen Folk Reports

I’ve just completed my two-week externship with Willow Creek Equine Veterinary Services in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, learning from a team dedicated mainly to equine and some small ruminant primary care. Because they practice in the area where I am originally from, it was a lot of fun to spend time with animal owners I used to…
Kate Bessette in blue scrubs stands next to a veterinarian in light green scrubs outside a veterinary clinic in Isla Mujeres that has a bright mural of teal and green trees

Aug 3, 2026

From Dairy Farms Across the Land, Kate Bessette Reports

After my time in the Veterinary Scholars Program ended, my summer veterinary adventures didn’t stop. I traveled 8 miles off the coast of Cancun to a little island in the Mexican Caribbean called Isla Mujeres. It is only 4.3 miles long and about half a mile wide and surrounded by the most beautiful turquoise waters…
Dr. Christine Long in orange shirt and gray pants kneels next to a brown horses as she hold a gastro tube that is draining into a pink bucket held by DVM student Meredith Moss.

Jul 30, 2026

Learning the Rural Ropes: Across NC, Veterinary Students Lock In

Before heading home each day to the family farm outside Chadbourn, North Carolina, Christine McPherson Long would leave West Columbus High School, cross the street and spend time at the local veterinarian’s office, where she had, to her great ninth-grade joy, snagged a job cleaning cages.  “It was on from there,” says Long, now a…
A scientist in a lab coat and gloves carefully handles a pipette while working at a laboratory bench surrounded by equipment and supplies.

Jul 28, 2026

Record Number of NC State Veterinary Students Engage in Summer Research

At NC State this summer, more veterinary students than ever participated in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Scholars Program (VSP), a crucial opportunity for students to push beyond the classroom and clinic walls and dive into the research that is shaping the future of veterinary and human medicine. An international program, VSP supports participating…

Jul 27, 2026

From an Aquatic Animal Odyssey, Sydney MacDonald Reports

July has been an exciting time for me to expand my summer experiences beyond the boat! Although I have spent time in the field conducting research, I have also been in a small animal clinic, volunteering and presenting.  The first week of July, I spent volunteering with individuals with mental and physical disabilities at Camp…
Bella Black in green scrubs and a black jacket gives thumbs up as she stands in front of a line of cows.

Jul 23, 2026

From Across the Midwest’s Farms, Isabella Black Reports

Onwards and westward! Following my time in Indiana, I ventured to West Point, Nebraska, for my next three-week rotation at Nebraska Vet Services (NVS). Although West Point is a small town of fewer than 3,500 people, its home county, Cuming, is home to over one million cows!  NVS is a unique practice because it is…
Madison Henderson in blue hat and dark jacket sits on top of a mountain in Peru with a dog.

Jun 17, 2026

From the USDA Zoonotic and Emerging Diseases Research Unit, Madison Henderson Reports

Before starting my fellowship, I kicked off my summer by traveling to Peru. This trip was not inherently veterinary-related, but cultural competence is vital in veterinary medicine, and I learned an immensely valuable lesson in an area that has been heavily shaped by colonial history while fiercely maintaining its indigenous Incan roots.  Cultural competence directly…
A girl in a coat and red hat sits in a backseat of a car with her younger sister wearing red books and a hat with white trim.

May 13, 2026

A Sister Denied Leads to a Legacy Created and Dreams Supported

Long-time music educator Kathy Backherms could not have composed a better coda to her cherished sister’s life than the magical moment she met NC State veterinary student Isla Farrow. First, the prelude.  Mary Frances Backherms was 8 years older than Kathy and had spent her childhood bandaging stuffed animals, caring for birds, hamsters, guinea pigs,…
Members of the NC State Class of 2026 take the veterinarian's oath as they stand in black gowns and black caps with their right hands raised.

May 11, 2026

‘We Conquered Everything’: 108 New Veterinarians Take on the World

In fall 2022, more than 100 graduates from 41 different academic institutions showed up at first-year veterinary student orientation on the campus of the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine, swatting at their nervous anticipation and putting a toe on the starting line. Four years of studying, stressing, surgeries and stitches, of laughing, crying and…
A graphic with two pictures: The first is a picture of 11 veterinary students standing in front of or sitting on a dog statue while one student holds the leash of a brown dog. The second is a picture of Hannah Dion wearing a dark shirt stands in an exam room with a kitten under her chin.

May 8, 2026

Class of 2026: From Nerves to NAVLE, Four Years of Questions Finally Answered

Biting my nails, jumping at every notification, calling my parents and throwing myself into back-to-back overnight shifts just to stay busy — I spent every moment hoping the acceptance email would finally come. But in the quiet moments, the questions crept in.What if I wasn’t good enough?What if everything I had worked for still wasn’t…