ABC Veterinary Assistant Program
Student of the Month
June 2014

Victoria Boone

Victoria Boone (“Tori”) lives in Lawrenceville, Ga., and works full time at Tiger Tails Animal Hospital in Duluth, Ga. For the past 16 years, she has worked in the newspaper industry as a copy editor and features writer. In 2009, Tori began volunteering at the Georgia SPCA to give back to the community and, as a life-long dog lover, she devoted a lot of her time there. She was at the SPCA so often that she was offered a part-time position on the kennel staff. Tori loved helping animals but after about 6 months she wanted to do more.

How did you hear about the ABC program and what convinced you to become certified?

I came across Animal Behavior College on the Internet. I liked how ABC worked (and is flexible) with students like me who are older and working full-time but want to go back to school. I also liked the lower cost of the ABC program compared to other schools. I didn’t want to go into a lot of debt going back to school in my 30s.

What has your experience been like in the ABC Veterinary Assistant Program?

My experience in the ABC veterinary assistant program was a very good one. I learned a lot about myself personally and professionally. I learned what I could handle well and what sort of things I needed to work on once I got into my externship. My externship coordinator Samantha and my program manager Penny were both very kind and helpful to me when I had concerns or questions about my externship or my tests.

What has been your most rewarding moment during your externship?

The most rewarding moment was when a client came in the hospital to pick up her dog’s collar two days after I assisted with the euthanasia of her dog, Sierra, who had cancer. When she came in she looked at me and said, “Thank you for being so nice and thoughtful during such a difficult time for me and my family.” It made me feel like I really helped this lady with the loss of her family pet.

What skills do you want to master during the next 12 months?

The skill I want to master is feeling completely comfortable and confident drawing blood from an animal; it’s been one of the most challenging things for me to master. I also want to master restraining smaller dogs because I’ve found that smaller dogs are harder to restrain than larger dogs because the smaller ones are very squirmy.

What are your future career plans?

My future career plans are just to continue learning from Tiger Tails to become the best veterinary assistant I can be. If I feel like time and money allow it, I may consider going back to school to become a registered vet technician.