For those of you that don’t know, I am an animal behavior major. I’ve wanted to be a veterinarian ever since I can remember, and it started with my first puppy that I got when I was 8 years old. An interest for animal psychology grew as I took my STEM courses alongside psychology courses during college. Since Vet school does not have a major requirement to get accepted, I was able to join a program that allowed me to combine these two interests of mine.
CUNYBA is an interdisciplinary program for undergraduate students. If you’re interested in learning more, here’s the link: https://cunyba.cuny.edu/
I found out about CUNYBA through a study that the CUNY Graduate Center was doing on students whose high schools were not required to take regents. Yes, I went to one of these high schools and many people are baffled when I mention that I never took regents, but my school had other ways of proving to the Board of Education that we were competent enough. During this study, I met other students from other high schools like mine and we discussed how prepared we felt for college without regents. I was also chosen to be interviewed for an article because many teachers want more schools like mine (article here: https://bit.ly/2sHPKoI). After the study, the head of the CUNYBA program came in to talk to us and spread the word.
Through CUNYBA, I was able to make this study abroad experience part of my major requirements. I believe this will give me the hands on experience to understanding animals so that later on I can focus on the hands on experience of caring for them. While in Thailand, I will be visiting many elephant reservations, elephant hospitals, conservation organizations, and possibly some tourist attractions
I can’t wait for all of you to experience this journey with me!
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