Helping Our Students Succeed: Success Story of Aly Hubbard
At Central Coast College, we aim to help our students succeed in a career that they love. One example of this is graduate Alycia (Aly) Hubbard.
Aly recently graduated from the AAS degree program in veterinary technology at CCC. She then passed her national board examination and gained licensure as a Registered Veterinary Technician (RVT).
We had a chance to sit down with Aly and ask her about her experiences at CCC, and we want to share with you what she had to say.
Why did you decide to become a veterinary technician? And why did you choose Central Coast College?
As a child I loved anything and everything to do with animals. Growing up I wanted to follow through with that so I looked into different jobs the animal field had to offer and I decided becoming a veterinary technician would be it for me. Finding CCC was truly luck at its finest. I googled colleges that offer the veterinary technician program and CCC popped up and was only a 3 min drive from my house! Truly it was meant to be.
What was your favorite part of the veterinary technology program at CCC?
My favorite part was pretty much anything that had to do with hands on experience which was A LOT. I remember in the first half of the program at the SPCA we had clinicals, I fell in love with wildlife and ended up doing a 6 month internship with them and that is an experience I’ll never forget! And in the veterinary technician half I really enjoyed the surgery class with the opportunities to do IV catheters, ET tubes, monitoring anesthesia and understanding the drugs was a great experience. And going out to hidden hills ranch and getting hands on experience with horses and rabbits. There are honestly so many hands on experiences I can go on forever!
How were you able to adjust your expectations when the Covid pandemic changed your learning experience?
Transitioning of course was hard for everyone going from hands on to trying to figure out how we could do that but safely. As a veterinary technician we are very hands on so finishing out into the most critical classes it had its moments. But the teachers were very helpful and were able to figure out how to make it work so we weren’t missing out too much.
Share a few special and also some challenging moments you experienced during your time in school.
The whole program was a special experience but I’d say time was a challenge especially when working full time and being a mom. But CCC was very helpful and offered a lot of guidance and advice when I needed it.
How do you see your career path unfolding, do you have any special aspirations/areas of interest?
So far things have been going great. I hope to further my education to becoming a veterinary technologist and specializing in emergency and critical care or anesthesia. One of the quotes I remember from joining CCC is “today is the first day of the rest of your life” and that really spoke to me and made me think that education never stops and there’s always ways to improve in life so make the best of what you have and move forward.
Concluding statement
I just want to say how grateful I am for everything CCC has done for me. Truly everyone at CCC had a helping hand in where I am today. From the front desk to Jennifer helping me get started in the program, Shari making sure everything is going smoothly, Denise and her cowbell, triple dipper attitude, to all the great teachers like Ms. Kerri, Sharon, Dr. Sage, Patty, Nancy and Michele I am forever grateful for their guidance, support and teaching me everything I know today as an RVT.