Scrubs, Service and the Runway: Meet LSU Vet Student Taja Bell

Taja Alexis Bell was five years old the first time she held a pair of scissors to a suture line. Her family dog had just been spayed, and once the incision healed, the veterinarian let the Bell kids help remove the stitches.

Taja will tell you it is “not much” of an origin story. There was no dramatic rescue or big life-changing moment. But apparently, that was enough. She had watched a body heal, held the scissors that marked the end of that process, and decided she wanted to spend her life doing this.

Twenty-one years later, that decision has survived a lot—Army service, emergency room shifts, motherhood, marriage, and now the intensity of veterinary school. Today, Taja is a second-year DVM student at Louisiana State University, and her story is less about the moment she knew she wanted to be a veterinarian and more about everything she has done since to make sure it actually happened.

From Baton Rouge to the Army

Taja is Baton Rouge through and through. She was born and raised there, graduated from Baton Rouge Magnet High School, and attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette before making her way to LSU.

But her path into veterinary medicine was anything but traditional. Before vet school, Taja served in the Army as a 68T Animal Care Specialist, gaining hands-on experience caring for animals in a completely different environment than most pre-vet students ever see.

She later worked as a lead emergency veterinary technician at a small animal hospital, where long shifts, sick patients, worried owners, and fast decisions became part of everyday life.

By the time she started veterinary school, she already knew what veterinary medicine looked like when it was exhausting, unpredictable, and very real.

“Life will give you a million reasons to not smile—but when you have purpose, you don't need a reason. Smiling feels natural.”

She Already Knows Where She Wants to Go

Ask Taja what she wants to do after graduation and she has a pretty clear answer.

She wants to start in emergency medicine, a world she already knows and loves, and then eventually pursue a surgical residency. Her long-term goal is to become a surgeon in a mixed animal practice, treating everything from dogs and cats to larger species.

“Surgery has always been an interest of mine,” she says, “and I have always wanted to help a wide range of species.”

It makes sense for someone who seems to thrive on variety. Emergency medicine gives her the fast pace. Surgery gives her the chance to work with her hands. Mixed animal practice gives her the opportunity to never really know what kind of patient is coming through the door next.

And one day, she hopes to own a clinic of her own.

Vet Student, Mom, Soldier, Model

One of the most interesting things about Taja is that veterinary medicine is a huge part of her life, but it is not the only part.

She is a mom, a wife, an Army veteran, and a veterinary student. She also models on the side, both because she enjoys it and because it helps bring in some extra money while she is in school. She dances, acts, travels when she can, and makes a point to keep parts of herself that have nothing to do with exams, clinics, or textbooks.

For Taja, those things are not distractions from veterinary school. They are what help her stay herself through it.

Her favorite color is red, her favorite animal is the lion, and her favorite superhero is Batman. She describes herself as loud, energetic, motivated, and someone who has never been very interested in making herself smaller for other people.

When asked what has gotten her this far, she does not talk about talent. She talks about determination, motivation, and what she jokingly calls her “over-achieving mentality.”

“Those things helped me to be a better person today than I was yesterday,” she says.

Just Keep Swimming

Taja’s favorite career advice comes from Finding Nemo. Just keep swimming. It sounds simple, but she means it.

“Life will do many things,” she says, “but the one thing you must do is just keep swimming and get through those rough times, because better is always around the corner.”

She also talks a lot about purpose. For her, purpose matters more than constantly trying to feel motivated or happy.

“Finding a purpose is important in life because it gives you a reason to want to continue to tomorrow,” she says. “No need to force happiness when you have purpose.”

And if she could talk to her younger self, she would tell her not to change.

“Those things that make us different are what make us an amazing person to be around,” she says. “You are made beautifully in God's image, and do not minimize yourself for anyone.”

Making Room for a Life Outside Vet School

Taja may be ambitious, but she is also very aware of how easy it is for veterinary school to take over everything.

Her advice to other students is simple: make time for yourself.

“Do not study all day every day, because burnout is inevitable that way,” she says. “Keep certain things that are important to you and make time for those things.”

Coming from someone balancing vet school with motherhood, marriage, faith, military experience, modeling, and everything else in her life, it feels less like generic advice and more like something she has learned by living it.

She also wants other students to stop assuming they have to choose just one version of themselves.

“You have time to live life and be a student, mother, wife, and Christian,” she says. “You can do the impossible. Don't let anyone else's limitations become your own.”

Five Years From Now

Ask Taja where she sees herself in five years, and interestingly, she does not start with a job title.

“In five years, I plan to be an amazing person,” she says. “There are many capacities that could manifest in, but being a great person is all that truly matters to me.”

She has big professional goals. She wants to become a surgeon. She wants to eventually own a veterinary clinic. But she is also comfortable admitting that she does not know exactly how or when all of that will happen.

That part, she says, is “all in God's timing.”

What she does know is the kind of person she wants to be along the way.

“Spreading positivity in this negative world is all I ever want to do,” she says. “Being a light in this dark place is always on the agenda.”

From a five-year-old helping remove stitches from the family dog to an Army Animal Care Specialist, ER technician, mother, model, and future veterinarian, Taja Alexis Bell has never really followed the most predictable path.

She has followed her own.

And if everything keeps moving in the direction she hopes, the next few chapters may include emergency medicine, surgery, mixed animal practice, and maybe one day a clinic with her name on the door.

Taja Alexis Bell is a second-year DVM candidate at Louisiana State University and a Vet Candy Rising Star, Class of 2026.