Senior explores career as vet

Lindsey Davis/Staff Writer

Imagine getting a jump start on your career as a high school senior. By the time you graduated college, you’d be more than prepared to take on this career full time. Hannah Riebkes, a Cedar Falls High School senior, has already started to live her dream.

Instead of working at a fast food chain for her part time job, she works at the Cedar Valley Veterinary Center. The center boards dogs and cats so Riebkes’ main job is to feed them, let them outside and clean their runs every morning. If it is a week day, she also helps bathe dogs for the groomers. Along with all these duties, she also helps with appointments, selling supplies and answering the phone. Doing all this only helps prepare Riebkes for her future hopefully as a vet.

“I want to be a vet simply because I love being around animals and love to help them. I would really like to be a large animal vet, specifically horses,” she said.

Not only does she help out with grooming the animals, she has watched surgeries and helped with X-rays. Although she loves working with dogs, Riebkes has realized being a small animal vet is not what she wants to be but notes that working for the vet gives her an idea of what it’s like being a vet every day.

“Working at a small animal clinic has also helped me to decide that I want to be a large animal vet. I love dogs and cats, but not lizards and rats,” Riebkes said.

Her plans for the future are to attend William Woods University in Fulton, Mo., after graduation this year. She is going to major in Equestrian Science with a minor in Equestrian Administration.

“I decided not to go to vet school right out of high school because it is really expensive and very competitive. I am hoping that going to William Woods will give me experience so that I can attend vet school,” Riebkes said.

Riebkes said it’s possible she may not even get into vet school. If not, she will still have a degree that allows her to work with a vet and do many things with horses.

“I have loved horses since I can remember, and I want to spend as much time with them as possible. You know how every little girl is obsessed with horses? Well, that never grew out of me,” Riebkes said.