{"id":1745,"date":"2026-02-13T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/?p=1745"},"modified":"2026-02-16T10:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:57:31","slug":"champing-at-the-bit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/champing-at-the-bit\/","title":{"rendered":"Champing at the bit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior Alana Alexander-Giles aspires for a career in equine medicine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Alana Alexander-Giles<\/strong>\u2019s love for horses runs deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior, who is majoring in general agriculture with a pre-veterinary concentration, has been active in many horse-related activities, ranging from equestrian events to horse rescue initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHorses have always been my favorite,\u201d the Ellicott City native said. \u201cI want to eventually work in equine medicine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander-Giles\u2019s decision to attend UMES was initially driven by a golf scholarship while majoring in pre-veterinary studies. Ultimately, she knew she made the right choice after meeting with Dr. Kimberly Braxton,<\/strong> associate professor in the Department of Agriculture, Food, and Resource Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI just really enjoyed hearing Dr. Braxton\u2019s story of also being a student-athlete and her ability to balance her time as a pre-vet major,\u201d Alexander-Giles said. \u201cI felt she was someone who could help me with my goals and achieve what I wanted to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time at UMES, Alexander-Giles has been involved in various organizations such as the Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Related Sciences (MANNRS) and a 10-week research internship at Virginia Tech in the summer of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlana is a dedicated and well-rounded student who has been passionate about her work,\u201d said Braxton, a UMES graduate and former volleyball player who also majored in pre-veterinary studies. \u201cWith her experience being an athlete, she understands the importance of work ethic and giving the necessary effort she puts into everything she does.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout her experience in the pre-vet field, Alexander-Giles said one of the things she valued was her ability to connect with others in the field, which can create lasting benefits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNetworking is important,\u201d she said. \u201cYou never know what opportunities you\u2019ll find by speaking with people who were once in your shoes and who can guide you in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After earning her undergraduate degree this spring, Alexander-Giles plans to take the next step in her career path by attending veterinary school to work towards her goal of a career in equine medicine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s potential for her to do so close to home as the University works to establish a school of veterinary medicine (UMES SVM), which would be the first at a public Historically Black College & University and Maryland\u2019s first veterinary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opening of the school is pending accreditation from the American Veterinary Medical Association, which will visit UMES during the week of June 21-26, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander-Giles said the historical significance of UMES opening a school of veterinary medicine is one that isn\u2019t lost on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an incredible moment, especially when you look at the political climate, to see this be possible,\u201d she said. \u201cI think if there\u2019s a chance to be in that first cohort, it would be an interesting to see how things develop and possibly being able to shape the future of the vet school.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alana Alexander-Giles\u2019s love for horses runs deep. The University of Maryland Eastern Shore senior, who is majoring in general agriculture with a pre-veterinary concentration, has been active in many horse-related activities, ranging from equestrian events to horse rescue initiatives. \u201cHorses have always been my favorite,\u201d the Ellicott City native said. \u201cI want to eventually work…Read more Champing at the bit<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1559,"featured_media":1744,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","wds_primary_category":10,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-1745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-highlight"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1745\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1745"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/svm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=1745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}