“It wasn’t Dal when I first started here,” Jessica Compagnon explains, referring to Dalhousie’s Agricultural Campus, “but I chose this school a really long time ago.”
Jessica, who is graduating with her Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) with a major in animal science and minor in genetics & molecular biology and food science & technology, had wanted to study at the former Nova Scotia Agricultural College since she was in middle school. Originally from the small town of Kingston in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley, it was the pre-vet program and working barn that brought her to Truro.
“I had only touched a cow once before I came to the school, and that was about it,” she says. “So when I got here, it was quite a learning curve, working with cows, sheep, chickens and animals like that, which a lot of our courses are based around.”
She was thrilled by the possibility of being able to work with animals on a day-to-day basis.
When she wasn’t in class or volunteering in the barn, Jessica was often involved with animal care groups and other student societies. She is currently vice-president of the faculty’s pre-vet club and volunteers for the Disaster Animal Response Team of Nova Scotia. She is also the current vice-president internal of the Dalhousie Agricultural Students’ Association and, for the past two years, she has represented the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus on its cross country team.
Jessica is looking forward to finally achieving her goal of having a career in veterinary medicine.
“I’ve applied to veterinary school for next year,” she says. “That’s my ultimate goal in life. So if I don’t get in next year, I’m going to keep working towards it.”
This article is part of a series on our newest graduates. These profiles are also published in the 2014 Spring Convocation Keepsake, which is distributed at Convocation ceremonies. For more on Convocation (including live webcasts), .