Kimberly Aguirre

Kimberly graduated from UC Davis in 2022 with a B.S. in Animal Biology and a minor in Public Health Sciences. She is originally from Calexico, CA, an agricultural bordertown in Southern California. During undergrad, she was involved with student organizations such the Pre-vet Students Supporting Diversity club, EOP, and the Transfer Research Society. She was also employed part-time in UC Davis Undergraduate Admissions as a student outreach assistant and as a research assistant in the Pires Urban Agriculture & Food Safety Lab. While in undergrad, she participated in research involving food safety, microbiology and epidemiology. She is currently a first year veterinary student at UC Davis and hopes to pursue a career involving food animal medicine and public health. In her free time, Kimberly enjoys playing tennis, biking around the arboretum, watching horror movies, cooking, spending time with loved ones and shouting "squirrel!" whenever she sees a squirrel.

What advice do you have for pre-health aggies?

Find what you are passionate about (within and outside of veterinary medicine) and strive for that, everyone is on their own journey so try not to compare yourself to others, and when it comes to applications for vet school, find what makes you unique and an asset to any veterinary program and practice articulating those things.

Is there anything you wish you would have done differently in your pre-health career

I wish I had enjoyed my time during undergrad a bit more. When you're pre-anything (med, vet, dental, etc.) sometimes we neglect other aspects of ourselves in order to accomplish our goals. While it is good to have goals and work towards them, make sure to continue doing the things you enjoy and prioritizing your health and relationships with others.

What has been your favorite memory at UC Davis?

My current favorite memory while at UC Davis was actually during the summer between graduating undergrad and beginning veterinary school. I was able › participate in a program called Rx One Health 2022, a two week field-based experiential learning course focused on One Health core competencies for graduate students and early career professionals from all disciplines. Participants train on the principles of One Health-the approach that recognizes that the health of people, animals, and their environments are interconnected-and that problem solving to address health challenges is best achieved through interdisciplinary collaboration. We were able to travel around Northern California and were exposed to a variety of topics, from ecosystem health to zoonotic spillover events to engaging with farmworker communities.