#CALScommunity Feature: Paulina Padrón Saráchaga
Padrón Saráchaga working in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico for the Banfield Student Job Program with her dog Cookie.
Name: Paulina Padrón Saráchaga (’19 animal science)
Role and Organization: DVM Candidate, 2023; veterinary student, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, Grafton, Massachusetts
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Primary duties: Primarily, I am a full-time veterinary student on track to earn my DVM by May of 2023. As a student, I serve as Co-President of the SAVMA Wellness Committee. We aim to help students pay attention to different aspects of their health through encouraging ideas like self-care and mental health awareness. I am also one of the company student representatives for Zoetis through their Education Alliance Program. Through that program we host events to continue education for our students, and keep them informed on Zoetis products.
How did your education at Iowa State University help prepare you for your current role? Serving as an Iowa State Department of Animal Science peer mentor and as an Iowa State community adviser really helped me practice my interpersonal skills and to think critically regarding academia and all its facets. Maintaining a balance between academic, physical, and mental wellness is something I always advocated for when mentoring students at Iowa State, and I think putting my own advice into practice for myself and my peers has been essential to “surviving” vet school.
What is your advice to CALS students? Do your best and remember you belong here! College can be so difficult at times, and it can be easy to feel out of place. Remember to use your resources, whether it be the Academic Success Center, Student Counseling Services, or the CALS director of Multicultural Success, Elizabeth Martinez Podolsky. The people around you want you to succeed, so reach out and talk about what you might be going through.
Paulina’s Favorite Resources to Build #CALScommunity:
Book: The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
Podcast: Code Switch by NPR
Social media resource: @snout.school
Other: @weneeddiversebooks
