By KENNETH HART - The Independent
WESTWOOD —
For Katie Everman, becoming a veterinarian isn’t so much a career goal as it is an all-consuming passion.
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do ever since I was little,” said Everman, a bright and articulate seventh-grader in the Fairview school system. “You can ask anyone in my class.”
On Wednesday, Everman had the opportunity to learn a few things about what it would take for her to achieve her goal.
Everman, 13, met with an actual working vet, Dr. Amy Bess, during a health care career fair at Fairview High School.
One thing she said she learned that she wasn’t previously aware of was what an important component chemistry is in veterinary medicine.
Knowing that, she said she’s more likely to work harder to learn all she can about that subject during her high school and college career.
Everman also found out that she would have to maintain a high grade-point average in college in order to be considered for admission to veterinary school.
“A 3.0 (GPA) qualifies you,” Bess told her. “A 3.5 highly qualifies you.”
Additionally, Bess told Everman she would have to attend vet school at an out-of-state institution, since Kentucky does not have one of its own.
Bess, who is the veterinarian at Bellefonte Animal Clinic, was one of nine exhibitors at Wednesday’s career fair, which was the brainchild of Fairview teachers Carly Baldwin and Valerie Ellis.
Both women are first-year intern teachers, and, according to Baldwin, the two came up with the career fair as a means of satisfying the leadership project requirement of their internships.
The decision to limit the fair to the medical field was made for a couple of reasons, Baldwin said.
One, she said, was that it’s one of the few fields where jobs are likely to still be plentiful when the students are ready to enter the work force.
Additionally, Baldwin said, she and Ellis wanted students to see how school subjects such as chemistry and biology were linked to careers in health care.
Several hundred students in grades 6 to 12 attended the fair, which was in the old FHS gym.
Erin Crace, a nurse with the Boyd County Health Department who’s assigned to Fairview as the school nurse, said she enjoyed talking to students about what public health nurses do.
She said that for the most part, the youngsters seemed interested and attentive, “especially considering it’s the week before Christmas break.”
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com.
