From the Sidelines to Vet School: How This Former LSU Cheerleader Took Her Dream to London

From four years cheering at LSU to studying veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, this Tennessee native is building a career by saying yes to the opportunities that scare her a little—and trusting that the unexpected path might be the right one.

A few years ago, the idea of going to veterinary school in London would have sounded almost ridiculous to this Tennessee native. She had attended Louisiana State University, spent four years as an LSU cheerleader, and imagined becoming a veterinarian, but crossing an ocean to do it was never exactly part of the plan.

Then she discovered the Royal Veterinary College. What began as an option she admits she wasn’t initially taking very seriously quickly turned into something much bigger, and after her interview, she knew she had found a place that felt right.

Sometimes the Dream Comes With a Passport

The RVC won her over with its facilities, curriculum, seemingly endless opportunities, and the emphasis it places on supporting its students. Just as important was the chance to learn veterinary medicine while being exposed to people, perspectives, and approaches to medicine that were completely different from what she had always known.

“I was always taught not to put limits on how an opportunity is supposed to come,” she says. “I prayed for the opportunity to become a veterinarian; I just didn’t specify the continent.” Now London is already pushing her far beyond her comfort zone, and she believes that is exactly where she is supposed to be.

Her Life Philosophy: Do It Scared

If there is one adventure that changed the way she approaches life, it was skydiving. Standing there preparing to jump from an airplane, she remembers wondering why she had willingly signed up for something so terrifying, but what happened next became one of the most freeing experiences of her life.

The experience taught her that fear does not necessarily mean stop. Sometimes fear is simply standing between you and an experience that could change you, and she believes some of life’s greatest opportunities are waiting on the other side of that fear.

That lesson became a philosophy she now carries with her everywhere: do it scared. Say yes to the opportunity, take the leap, and trust yourself enough to figure out the rest along the way. Moving across the world to study veterinary medicine became another version of that same jump.

Kindness Is Still the Superpower

For someone with big ambitions, the quality she admires most in other people is surprisingly simple: kindness. She especially values the kind of kindness that is genuine, expects nothing in return, and makes another person feel seen.

She admires people who are patient even when they do not have to be and who extend grace without knowing someone else’s entire story. “Kindness says so much about a person because it costs very little, yet it can completely change someone’s day—or even their life,” she says.

That perspective is one she hopes to carry into veterinary medicine as well. Clinical knowledge may make someone a strong veterinarian, but the way they treat clients, colleagues, staff, and the people around them can leave an equally lasting impression.

Her Original Hero Is G-Diddy

Long before veterinary professors and clinical mentors entered her life, her grandfather was setting the example. She calls him G-diddy, because, in her words, he is far too cool to simply be called grandpa.

Growing up, she admired his strength, wisdom, work ethic, and love for other people. He was also the person who made her feel that she could accomplish anything she truly put her mind to, and watching how he handled both good seasons and difficult ones taught her important lessons about perseverance and character.

As she has gotten older, she has also realized that heroes do not necessarily have to do something the rest of the world considers extraordinary. “Sometimes your hero is simply the person who turned on your princess nightlight, read you Bible stories, and taught you how to divide,” she says.

Veterinary Medicine Is Part of a Bigger Mission

Ask her about her biggest mission in life and she does not immediately name a specialty, title, or professional milestone. Her answer is much broader: she wants to become the person she believes she was called to be and use the gifts, passions, and opportunities in her life to serve other people.

Veterinary medicine is an important piece of that purpose, but it is not the entire picture. Whether she is advocating for those without a voice, showing kindness to someone who needs it, caring for an animal, or simply being present for the people around her, she wants her life to have meaning beyond herself.

She does not feel the need to know exactly where the journey will end. What matters more is having the courage and faith to continue saying yes when the next opportunity appears, even when that opportunity looks nothing like the plan she originally imagined.

The Advice Every New Vet Student Needs to Hear

There is one lesson she wishes someone had told her before the first day of veterinary school: you do not have to keep proving that you deserve your seat. Vet school makes comparison incredibly easy, especially when someone else seems to have more clinical experience, knows an answer you do not, or looks like they have everything figured out.

Those comparisons can quickly become self-doubt, but her message to other veterinary students is that they did not arrive there by accident. They worked for the opportunity, earned their place, and were selected because someone already believed they had the potential to become a veterinarian.

“Vet school isn’t the place where you prove you’re worthy of becoming a veterinarian; it’s the place where you learn to become one,” she says. Her reminder to every student who has ever questioned whether they are good enough is simple: you belong in the room.

From Death Valley to London

Today, the former LSU cheerleader is calling London home while studying veterinary medicine at the Royal Veterinary College. Her current professional interests include emergency medicine and equine surgery, while life outside the classroom involves exploring London, reading, meeting new people, and learning the little cultural differences that come with starting over in another country.

She may not have planned a path from Tennessee to LSU to London, but that is part of what makes her story worthy of being named a Vet Candy Rising Star of 2027. Her journey is a reminder that sometimes the opportunity you have been waiting for shows up in a form you never expected, and sometimes the best thing you can do is take the leap—even when you have to do it scared.