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Veterinary Enrichment Camp: Coming full circle
for prospective and current veterinary students
The Veterinary Enrichment Camp at
the Texas A&M College of Veterinary
Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
(CVM) continues to have a profound
impact on former and current
attendees by offering a three-and-ahalf-day
program where participants
interested in veterinary medicine can
learn about life as a veterinary student
at the CVM.
The Veterinary Enrichment Camp
has been an annual event for over 20
years. It is open to students interested
in veterinary medicine who have
completed their sophomore or junior
year in high school. The participants
experience real-life student situations,
such as partaking in a rigorous
admissions process, living on campus
in a dorm, and learning hands-on
techniques in the Veterinary Medical
Teaching Hospital.
The camp this year, held the
weeks of July 16 and 23, was Brady
Dennis’, assistant director of external
relations in the Texas A&M division
of Marketing & Communications, last
camp to oversee. Brady Dennis, former
BIMS senior academic advisor and
director of the camp from 2008-2012,
said his favorite part of the camp
was observing the mentorship and
interaction between the counselors,
faculty, staff, and campers.
“I have never seen a faculty more
willing to offer their time and
expertise to help guide these young
minds to reach their ultimate goal
of practicing veterinary medicine,”
Dennis said. “The faculty and staff of
the College of Veterinary Medicine
& Biomedical Sciences, as well as the
great counselors, are what make this a
great experience.”
At last year’s camp, held the week
of July 25, 2011, Erin Braley, third
year veterinary student at the CVM,
and Adam Ridenour, second year
veterinary student at the CVM, worked
as counselors because their attendance
almost a decade ago proved to be
the solidifying factor in pursuing
a veterinary medicine career. They
said they wanted to provide the same
positive experience they had in camp
to prospective veterinary students.
“Prior to attending camp, I was
terrified, because I was not exposed
to much in the veterinary field,” said
Braley, who attended camp before her
junior year in high school in 2004. “I
knew I wanted to be a veterinarian, and
camp taught me a lot because we got a
taste for what the veterinary field had
to offer. Therefore, the camp helped
me gain confidence in my decision to
pursue this career.”
“The counselors really impacted my
experience at A&M and the CVM. This
experience also prompted me to seek
out mentorship opportunities because
of the positive influence my Veterinary
Enrichment Camp counselors had on
me,” Braley said.
Ridenour also attended Veterinary
Enrichment Camp the summer before
his junior year in high school, in 2002.
“The pinnacle of my experience at
camp was when we got the chance to
see behind the scenes of the Small
Animal Hospital,” Ridenour said .
“This opportunity exposed me to the
CVM and the veterinary profession, as
well as Texas A&M.”
“I love working as a counselor
because it is so refreshing to see myself
through the attendees’ eyes as I was
in their shoes a couple of years ago,”
Ridenour said. “Now, I reflect on how
I have changed, and that I made my
dream come true to pursue a career as
a small animal veterinarian.”
Dustin Black, a first-time attendee of
the Veterinary Enrichment Camp, will
be a senior at B.F. Terry High School
in Richmond, Texas. His enthusiasm
for veterinary medicine was sparked
in kindergarten, and since then he
has volunteered for veterinarians. He
worked for a year to pay his way to
Veterinary Enrichment Camp because
he was so determined to participate.
“This experience is amazing,” Black
said. “I know many students will never
get this opportunity, and so I am
taking full advantage of what I am
learning this week. I am learning and
working with doctors and veterinary
students and doing things I never
expected.”
Black said he hopes to pursue a
career as a rural veterinarian in Texas.
The Veterinary Enrichment Camp
confirmed both his desire to become a
veterinarian and attend Texas A&M as
a biomedical sciences undergraduate
in the college.
The journey came full circle for
Braley and Ridenour, and it is just the
beginning for Black. The Veterinary
Enrichment Camp fosters enthusiasm
and love for the veterinary profession.
It is a collaborative effort among the
biomedical sciences program at the
CVM, Texas A&M advisors, and CVM
veterinary students. The efforts of this
partnership go far beyond the week
for the students, and as in Braley and
Ridenour’s cases, it can last a lifetime.
CVM Today • Winter 2012 • 31