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Ever since I was a little girl I loved animals, but in my young years we did not have any pets. I was born in Prague, Czech Republic, and it was impossible to have pets in a 1 bedroom apartment in the city where my grandmother had the one bedroom. Once we emigrated to the United States, I seemed to bring every possible animal home. At one point my parents put up with 1 dog, 2 cats, 38 gerbils, 18 white rats and 8 turtles. I also took riding lessons and cared for a pony that lived down the street and often came to graze on our lawn.
When I was in high school, I started working at the nearby USDA lab in trace element research, as well as for a small animal veterinary hospital. I learned that I had no aptitude for birds (please don’t ask me), but had great rapport with dogs, cats and their owners. My parents saw my passion and encouraged me to channel my studies in college to medicine, so when I attended the University of Maryland I took all pre-med and pre-vet classes. To gain the required experience with large animals I started working at a mixed practice in the neighboring county for a vet who became my mentor as well as a life-long friend. Boy, did I collect farm call stories.
All my hard work was worth it. After 3 years at the University of Maryland I was accepted to Cornell's veterinary school. My first year anatomy lab partner is now my husband and, as the saying goes, all else is history. I love my job - helping people by caring for their pets. Yes, there are tough times and sad or difficult events, but on the whole, to be able to make animals better and their owners happy is all worth it. I feel lucky to be able to do what I do.
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