Beverly Jogan(1997 TA: 2002,2003)

College/Degrees

University of Pennsylvania for B.A. in Biology and Physical
Anthropology and University of Pennsylvania for V.M.D (veterinary
medicine)

Employer/Job Title

Veterinarian, Raccoon Valley Animal Hospital

Accomplishments

Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in undergrad; Volunteer for Remote Area Veterinary Services and at local animal shelters

Testimonial

PGSS opened my eyes to the academic possibilities available to me. Having graduated from one of the most notorious school districts in the state of Pennsylvania, I had little encouragement and even less guidance. The academic curriculum at PGSS was extremely challenging for me, but made me realize that I wanted to pursue a degree from an equally challenging college. It also helped me focus on the specific scientific field of Biology. As a teaching assistant, I also know that PGSS also has the added bonus of providing socialization for a large groupof self-proclaimed science nerds. Many of us spent high school being ridiculed and having a hard time making friends, and it absolutely changed my outlook on my peers. I saw for the first time that “nerds” could be popular, and can make excellent leaders. We didn’t have to only sit behind a lab bench — there were many ways that we could improve our communities and advance science. PGSS has also certainly has been an important part of my personal life, as I married a PGSS classmate, and my best friend today was also a classmate. The greatest impact that PGSS had on my career is that it taught me that learning for the sake of learning is worthwhile and immensely gratifying. We go through school being pressured to get straight A’s so we can stand on a podium and accept an award, but PGSS simply encouraged us to learn for no other reason than to better ourselves and be able to better the world around us. As a veterinarian, this concept is of the utmost importance in my career, because I must motivate myself to keep up with current knowledge in medicine and the most recent scientific studies. There is no money or gold star as a prize at the end of the day when I go through my stack of journals, and it was PGSS that showed me that it’s worth reading them anyway.