In March, Women’s History month is celebrated. From the moment I remembered that Women’s International Day is celebrated on March 8th, I knew who my next article was going to be about. The second woman that has shaped my life the most, after my mother, of course, is my sister, Gabriela N. Medina Vázquez. Thinking about her experiences makes me reflect on what being a woman is about. A real woman, not like the ones we see on TV, that are pretty in pink, at least in the role they play. Someone who is empowering, logical, emotional, and raw. Gabriela’s biggest trait is her honesty. I know intelligence is a trait that has made her get far professionally, evidently from her 2023 Cornell acceptance. But apart from that, Gabriela is an influencer, she has been posting content on Instagram since mid 2020, and I feel that what has made her platform grow so much, besides her moving experiences, has been the authenticity and honesty she embodies. For this, and many other reasons, is why I wanted to learn more about Gabriela’s empowerment, her views ,and her own reflection on what being a woman in the veterinary field is.
Q: How empowered does it make you feel to be a woman in the vet med field?
A: In vet med history, if we look back, maybe in the 60’s, they had this hall of every person that has graduated and you can see that the class started with all men, and throughout the years you see a development, a few specks of women, then men and women and then more diversity. Seeing those pictures has been an eye opener because, if you see the recent classes, there are more women than men. I feel empowered because when I look back , versus now seeing all these women having opportunities is very empowering since we see all of that hard work that people have been doing has come to fruition. That is the reminder that all the fighting that women have done for equality has come to these opportunities to grow. There is an imbalance in salary and we can see it in different sources, but I am more hopeful for the future because those efforts are being seen and women are taking over the field, not as a minority anymore.
As Gabriela mentioned and spoke about Cornell’s class in the 60’s, I researched a bit about the history of The Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. It’s surprising how, as soon as you open the page where they talk about their history, a picture of six men can be seen. In 1894, thanks to James Law, the veterinary school was founded and the first building was dedicated to him. Later, in 1910, Florence Kimball was the first woman to obtain her Degree of Veterinary Medicine (DVM). It’s interesting to see this change in the veterinary profession, as Gabriela explained, this going from a male prominent field to a women prominent career.
As a woman in chemical engineering, I have been aware of the inequality there is for women in the STEM field, which is why it was intriguing for me to hear more about Gabriela’s experience in this sense:
Q: Do you think that in vet med women have less opportunities? If so, how have you overcome this?
A: Personally, the disadvantages haven’t come from being a woman, but from being a latina, from Puerto Rico. When I was living back home, I couldn’t find mentors to guide me, which is why I created my page. I moved because I wanted to grow, [and because] I couldn’t find a veterinarian in Puerto Rico to speak to about my growth. In the USA I found that, but I found out that there are a lot of misconceptions about our culture, and I realized it is important to have us in these spaces. There are a lot of Spanish speaking clients and many times they are looked down upon. Diversity is lacking in this field, there is only 2.2% of black vets and 6.1% of latinos. My personal barrier has been being latina and wealth. Also, studying vet med requires a lot of money, which is hard.
As I mentioned before, Gabriela started creating content during the Covid-19 pandemic. Being at home, while I spent hours watching TikToks, Gabriela’s creativity sparked and she slowly started posting pictures. Eventually, she found the identity for her page: A Pre Vet Journey, where she has gone all these years narrating her journey, not only the pretty things, like her graduation from the Universidad Interamericana in Ponce, in June 2021, but also her struggles.
Q:What are some of the challenges you have felt as a woman-in-STEM influencer?
A: I don’t know how to answer because when I got into the social media space, I found a community that looked like me. In real life, the majority of women I interacted with [were] women who wanted to get a career in stem or vet med, but as I said before, I didn’t find someone who had the same background as me. At first, I would post a lot of pictures, but then, I found out people felt like me, but nobody spoke about it. I failed my first semester of vet med, which is something that is not spoken [about] and how hard vet school is. There is a lack of representation of those struggles in vet med. The struggle in the workplace is spoken a lot [about], but not the struggles of pre-vet students, latinx groups, black groups. We don’t see that, which is where my struggles come from the most.
In this question, Gabriela spoke about the moment her life changed: August 2021, the moment she moved to Spokane, Washington.
Q:What experiences have shaped you to be the woman you are?
A: Definitely, the experience that shaped me, to which I say, “esta es la experiencia,” was to move to Spokane because it made me realize the reality of living in the United States as a latina. I went through so many microaggressions, and [it] also made me realize that I am more than a student and a future vet. [This move] Made me realize that I have to have other outlets than only focusing on my career. I realized I wasn’t only “Gabriela, the future vet” ; this motivated me to look out for community, different spaces.
Q: Do you think that being in environments where there are more women have contributed to your success?
A: Indirectly, it has. Seeing other women achieving the goals that I have, [makes me feel like] “I can definitely do this.” In other fields, especially STEM, it’s hard for women to get success, [and] we can see this through history. When I got into vet med I realized that women can take the lead and make a solid team. This has made a huge impact because I see myself there and I always have had an itch to collaborate and be a leader.
Besides working in different veterinary offices, Gabriela has grown in many spaces such as, in her travel to Thailand with the Loop Abroad program in June 2022, where she worked in an elephant sanctuary. Additionally, during her time in Puerto Rico, she interned in Horse and Pony’s inc from June 2020 to January 2021 and, in Cornell, from June to July of 2023.
Q: What advice would you give women who are in male prominent careers?
A: I feel like the best thing that we can do is speak up. I know that this is kind of redundant, but speaking up and inspiring other people is the way to go. Gender shouldn’t be a way to qualify or not, but, unfortunately, in this society it is. Advocating for yourself, talking to your male coworkers about their salary, and [if] you notice they are being paid more, speaking up and going to administration sources can help break that barrier.
While Gabriela earned her bachelor’s degree, I would say that something that shaped her as a multitasker and a good time manager was working in Wendy’s, which was months before she moved to Spokane, from January to August 2021.
Q: Have you been in any environment where you have been limited to being a woman? What advice would you give young women going through this?
A: I didn’t experience it as much when I was working as a veterinary assistant, but when I was working in Wendy’s, I did see a weird dynamic in the work space. I noticed that, a lot of the time, these roles are known to be for women, talking to the clients [and] making the food. Most of my coworkers rotating in these positions were women, but carrying heavy objects[and] working the grill, were mostly [for] men. The advice I would give is, “mete la mano.” I believe in challenging these stereotypes by actively participating in tasks traditionally associated with the opposite gender. It’s important to push boundaries and redefine roles based on ability rather than gender.
In this last question, I just wanted Gabriela to reflect on the amazing woman she is, because, besides the stumbles that have been in her path, this young woman was able to rise like a phoenix in January 2022, the moment she knew she was rejected from vet School. This did not stop her, and didn’t make her think twice on applying again, and that is when, victoriously, she was accepted in January 2023, a year after one of her most heartbreaking moments.
Q: How empowered do you feel as a woman who has accomplished so many things?
A: Honestly, it makes me feel like I’ve healed my inner child. I am becoming the mentor that the Gabbie four or five years ago needed and that is such a huge accomplishment to me. In the past I have felt so alone and now I can look at my past self and say: “hey, you are what you needed,” that just fills me with so much joy and humility. I could’ve gone through so many paths and I ended up here. Something my mentor Camila has told me is that if you talk about your struggles no matter how “embarrassing” they are, and [how] difficult they are to speak about, you are going to open up and [have a] conversation. I hope I can be that person for other people that may feel that they don’t have a space in this field or any other field.
Although Gabriela failed her Fall 2023 vet school semester, as heartbreaking as this sounds, Gabriela has continued to inspire others by talking about her journey. Her story does not end there, the same way she rised from the painful news of rejection and hesitantly got into vet school, she will continue to succeed and graduate. Gabriela’s story is one I wanted to share, because it is not only filled with emotion, triumph and inspiration, but it is one that can show how far resiliency can take you.