When we sat down for our first Her Campus Eckerd meeting this year and brainstormed potential campus celebrities, I immediately knew that I wanted to interview Aslyn Brandt. She always comes into our biochemistry class with some new and interesting story about her veterinary internship. No matter how tired or sick she is, Aslyn always talks about her passion for animals with enthusiasm and animation. Even with her rigorous school schedule and working four days a week at her internship; she always has a smile on her face and clearly loves what she does. It is immediately evident when she talks about her dreams that she was destined to be a vet and I’m confident that she will make an excellent one. And yes, she’s named after the lion from “The Chronicles of Narnia,” totally badass.
When did you first decide that you wanted to be a veterinarian?
“When I was 3 years old. I told my mom I was going to be a dolphin doctor and it has just stuck with me ever since.”
Why do you want to be a veterinarian?
“It has always been a passion of mine to help animals. I’ve had many, many pets and I was honored with the “biggest animal lover” superlative in my high school graduating class. Even if I’m scared of an animal, I’m able to conquer that fear by helping them. I am so afraid of snakes but when I volunteered in Guatemala I worked with two boa constrictors.”
Did you get over your fear?
“I’m still nervous around them, but in the moment that I’m helping them, I’m not.”
What type of veterinarian do you want to be and why?
“I want to be a vet for aquatic animals. Well, it started when I was three; I had this weird fascination with dolphins. My Mom would take me to the aquarium every year for my birthday. When I was older, I shadowed my Aunt, who is a large animal veterinarian. I’ve also worked in small animal clinics. I loved both experiences and all types of animals but ultimately I’m more interested in the aquatic aspect of veterinary medicine.”
Where do you intern?
“At Clearwater Marine Aquarium working with sea turtles.”
What does your internship entail?
“A lot! I’ll start with my day. I do food prep in the morning and go through and clean everything; you have to be willing to get your hands dirty. Then I go out and feed the rehab turtles and the resident turtles. I need to not only know the diet charts but also the medicines that the turtles receive because I deal out the medications for the sea turtles I work with. I’ve learned that you cannot get attached to the rehabilitation turtles because they are not at the aquarium for long, you can get attached to the resident sea turtles, but not the rehab ones. A lot of people make that mistake initially. I have to clean the tanks of the left over food pieces and then I go and prepare for my presentations. As an intern I need to memorize four presentations: on sea turtles, stingrays, sea turtle nesting, and fish and sharks. I must be knowledgeable and personable because I’m responsible for educating the visiting public on these topics. In the afternoon I feed the resident and the rehabilitation turtles again and then I feed the turtles with fibropapoloma, which is a turtle virus similar to herpes. We have two of these turtles and we are one of the only aquariums in the area that takes in turtles with this virus. Once you go into the ICU where these turtles are kept and feed them or clean their tanks you are considered contaminated and cannot work with any other sea turtles for the rest of the day. I have also had to do tube feeding in special cases and I’ve learned how to prep the surgical suite.”
Have you witnessed any surgeries?
“I got to be there when a juvenile green sea turtle came in entangled in fishing line and I was there when we had to amputate the right front flipper. I also got to monitor a loggerhead rehab turtle that was unresponsive; it was basically in a coma. We used IV nutrition on that turtle, which was only the second time in the world that a sea turtle went through IV nutrition, and I got to monitor the drips.”
That’s incredible! What is your favorite part about your internship?
“My favorite part would be learning how to handle these animals. And I love the medical aspect that the turtle department gets to be involved in. We get a lot of rehab turtles so we get thrown right into the medical aspect even as an intern.”
What is your least favorite part?
“My least favorite part would be driving there, because it takes forever. It’s hard to have an hour commute when you are a full time student.”
What advice do you have for other aspiring vets on finding an internship and performing successfully at one?
“At Eckerd, my advice would be to take advantage of the small school. Get to know your professors, especially the ones in field you are interested in. Since Eckerd is so small, we often get opportunities that other undergraduates don’t receive. Also, if you want something bad enough just be willing to do the grunt work, its not all glamorous.”
If you could be stranded on an aquaglide in Frenchman’s creek with anyone, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
“I would want to be stranded with frank Sinatra so he could serenade me.”