Vail’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs provide students with opportunities to gain job skills, certifications, and even employment out of high school. And, the programs certainly set students up with a launching pad to pursue advanced certifications, degrees, and professions. Vail’s CTE programs are an integral part of helping students to create their own stories.
Lainey Caswell
Lainey Caswell is a current Andrada senior in the Veterinary Assisting CTE program. Her love for animals began in Pima County 4H, and she was hooked.
Choosing Andrada was a no brainer because of the opportunity to earn a vet assisting certification. She dreams of becoming a veterinarian in a rural area where people don’t have much access to strong veterinary medicine.
Lainey loves how diverse the vet program is. When she entered the pathway, she knew nothing about how to take care of smaller animals. She’s learned how to hold animals of all shapes and sizes, administer medications and restraints, and to get to know a patient’s history. She has learned there is so much more to caring for live animals in crisis.
Lainey also loves how students just fit in at Andrada. They have an idea of where they are headed, and that changes the dynamic. Lainey is most excited for her 126 hour internship at a local veterinary clinic where she will get a real world feel for the profession. She plans to attend either the University of Arizona or Texas A&M where she will pursue veterinary medicine. She also plans to explore her interest in zoology. Best of luck to you, Lainey!
Kendall Free
Kendall Free is a 2016 Andrada graduate. She pursued veterinary assisting and bioscience there and then earned her Bachelor’s in Material Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. She currently attends Tokyo Medical and Dental University where she’s pursuing a Master’s in Health Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. She is working on research for her thesis on mRNA Therapeutics before pursuing her MD and PhD.
Kendall gained a love for the clinical setting and working with patients (humans or animals) in the veterinary assisting program at Andrada where she had lots of hands-on practice. Her favorite memory though was a lecture on parasitology where her mind was “exploding” with in depth concepts. Kendall says, “I found that there were not many students at Johns Hopkins who had the exposure to the real medical profession like I did. It gave me that maturity to make decisions on what I wanted to do.
Kendall’s advice to Vail’s students:
“Follow what you are interested in and try it. If you don’t like it, do something else. Go with what you are interested in because you have the opportunity to change. Don’t be afraid to do what you like at the time.”
Thank you, Kendall! You are a shining example of how students can capitalize on the experiences offered through the high quality CTE programs in Vail!
