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Stephan is no ordinary veterinary student.
Besides caring for her little sister and her mother, who was
diagnosed with a brain aneurysm one year ago, she is president
of the UGA student chapter of the American Veterinary Medical
Association (SCAVMA), she works with many community service
projects including Adopt-a-Highway and the Images of Success
Program (a mentoring program), and she has been to South America
to investigate the economical impact of Foot and Mouth Disease
in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.
Expected
graduation: May 2006
Degree Objective: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
Other
degrees:
- B.S. (Biology), Claflin University, Orangeburg, SC
University
highlights, achievements and awards:
While in vet school,
I have been a Senator, President-Elect and President of the
SCAVMA. In these positions, I have helped raise funds with
our auction, attended luncheons with UGA President Michael
Adams and the University System of Georgia Board of Regents,
and helped organize our Cow Chip Lotto Fundraiser, among other
things. I am also a member of the Graduate and Professional
Scholars (GAPS) committee, Timothy Campus Ministry executive
board, UGA High School Outreach, the Christian Veterinary
Fellowship, and the Feline Club and Canine Club where I have
helped to spay and neuter cats and dogs.
I won the UGA SCAVMA Outstanding Contribution Scholarship
this spring. I also just recently won the Smith-Kilborne Foreign
Animal Disease Scholarship. Only one student is selected from
each of the 28 vet schools in the U.S. each year for that
honor.
Current
employment:
I
am presently a Georgia Veterinary Scholar. I conduct research
in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology
to gain greater understanding of the relationships among organisms
within the Atoxoplasma genus. I also work in the College’s
VetLab.
Since I came to UGA, I have also worked as an Animal Health
Technician Intern with the USDA where I assisted with a disease
control program. Last summer I was on the Exotic Newcastle
Disease Task force in California where I worked on several
surveillance and diagnostics teams, performing disinfections
of vehicles used in quarantine areas and other activities,
and I traveled to South America in 2002 through a program
sponsored by the Department of Defense and the University
of Georgia to investigate the economical impact of Foot and
Mouth Disease in Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.
High
School: Scott's Branch High School
Hometown:
Summerton, South Carolina
Family
ties:
My immediate family consists of my mother and my little sister.
My little sister and I have an age difference of 21 years
and 6 months. She is my angel and my heart. Our mother was
diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in summer 2003. Since then
the rest of my family has been a tremendous help enabling
me to stay in school. Although my little sister is in South
Carolina, I still help to support her and go home as much
as possible. I must add that the people in the College of
Veterinary Medicine have been an extended family, offering
support and encouragement in my tough times.
My favorite professor is...
I do not have just one favorite professor. Since my matriculation
at UGA, I have been taught by the best professors in the field
of veterinary medicine. They treat the students with the utmost
respect and are available when we need extra help. The excellence
in teaching here at the vet school is confirmed by the fact
that I have been taught by six different faculty members who
received the Josiah Meigs Award for Excellence in Teaching.
If money was not a consideration, I would love to...
...give back to my colleges, Claflin University and UGA. I
want to see these institutions continue their climb of excellence,
producing future leaders for the world. They are the best,
and I love them both dearly. I would also open a veterinary
clinic in my hometown, Summerton, SC. I do not want to work
in a private practice so I would hire the best veterinarian
(meaning that he or she would have to be a UGA grad) to provide
top quality care.
After graduation, I plan to...
..pursue a Master's degree in Public Health.
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