UCBA Vet Tech Graduate: A Profile of Vanessa Seaman

This past spring was a big one for animal lover Vanessa Seaman as she graduated from our very own veterinary technician program here at UCBA. As she says, she is not your typical college student, as she graduated the spring before her oldest son began college. Vanessa is no foreigner to Cincinnati. Growing up in Milford, Ohio, she had every kind of pet imaginable, from your typical cat and dog, to snakes, pigs and horses. Having grown up with animals, and working in animal clinics to help educate pet owners how to care for pets, makes becoming a veterinarian seem to be a good fit. But first, Seaman had to graduate from college.

Graduating college had always been a dream of hers. She had made it her goal to go to college right after high school. However, her father was injured in work and she made the conscious decision to help him out in anyway she could, both physically and financially. She soon decided to start her own family, and adjusted her goal to make it to college when her children were in high school. Her husband and her children have been a hung support system for her, and her decision to go to school.

As she describes herself Vanessa is not your classic college student as she did not start college right out of high school. She took the things she learned throughout her life as a child, and took the things she enjoys to the next level. Seaman grew up caring for horses. Her previous work in a small animal practice had her doing a few externships, and within those she decided to do a few equine practices. Her first one was a huge hospital in Lexington, Kentucky. This hospital had many different specialties, but most of the horses in the area were brought here. The second was a mobile practice where the doctors would go to the homes, or farms where the horses were located. Through these two externships she found that regardless of their size, horses can be extremely fragile.

Although she’s graduated, she has not left. She currently works a couple days a week here to help students with their labs and share her love for animals with future technicians. She has worked as an assistant and manager in the veterinary field for the past 17 years. She has always loved animals of all kinds. Her dream is to attend Ohio State University’s Vet program to get her masters in Biology, and then specialize with horses. Following her initial dream to work with animals, and then to realize that she wants to go even further and specialize in equine practice shows that anyone can follow their dreams.

UCBA Vet tech graduate Vanessa Seaman is passionate about horses. Photo courtesy of Seaman.