By Tiffany Whitfield

Growing up on a dairy farm in south-central Pennsylvania, Lily Stenning learned the values of perseverance and hard work. She dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.

This December, 当她从最靠谱的网赌软件获得生物科学学士学位时，她离实现这一目标又近了一步. 从大学毕业也实现了她父亲的一个梦想.

Her dad started at ODU in 1976. “他总是为自己在英语课上坐在南希·利伯曼旁边而感到自豪,” Stenning said. But for financial reasons, he did not finish his degree. 他确实从北弗吉尼亚社区学院获得了副学士学位，并成为了一名航空公司飞行员和飞行教练.  

斯坦宁说:“我之所以去ODU，是因为我父亲最初在这里上学. 当她在2019年收到录取通知书时，她和她的父亲欣喜若狂. 但在2019年秋天，在她的第一学期，她的父亲在与癌症的斗争中失败了. Being so far from home during his passing was a struggle, but Stenning relied on her upbringing to focus on her goals. 

斯坦宁来自弗吉尼亚州的温彻斯特，6岁时搬到了宾夕法尼亚州.

“We had a beef operation in Virginia, 我们搬家是因为我爸爸从小在奶牛场工作，一直想拥有自己的农场,” she said. She and her mother and younger sister all worked on the farm. “We milked cows for almost 14 years,” Stenning said.

In rural Pennsylvania, farming was a normal way of life. “我们学校有一小群学生的家庭拥有奶牛场，我们就是其中的一员, 因此，我们在家里做的家务包括在上学前后定期挤奶,” Stenning said.

As her father’s cancer progressed, 斯坦宁和她的妹妹是父亲在早晚挤牛奶的唯一帮手.

斯坦宁从早上5点开始，整个高中都在长时间地工作.m., so adjusting to life on campus at ODU was relatively easy. 斯坦宁说:“我很幸运能去ODU，体验一些不同的东西.

选择生物科学对她来说是有意义的，因为她知道她想进入兽医或成为一名医生. “It's also something I greatly enjoy learning about, and my mother has a degree in biology, too, 所以这是我一生中一直被包围的事情,” she said. 

At ODU, Stenning was a member of the Honors College, 她重新成立了一个学生组织，并利用在欧洲旅行和学习的机会，作为她辅修西班牙语的一部分.

In the spring of 2022, she studied abroad in Valencia, Spain, living with a family that didn’t speak English. While she was in the country, 她还在卡尔佩实习了两周，在那里她与贵族耳廓一起工作, a large mollusk. “They are a very important filter feeder in the Mediterranean, 科学家们正试图找出拯救它们的方法，因为它们濒临灭绝,” Stenning said.

She said that living and learning abroad helped open her mind. “You are just kind of like ‘wow,“这是一种非常不同的生活方式和非常不同的文化, 我想我以后会有这样的经历.”

With her mind set on becoming a veterinarian, 斯坦宁在2020年和2023年的夏天在一家大型动物诊所做了两次实习.

它们都在宾夕法尼亚州库里维尔的奶牛场兽医服务中心. “I've grown up riding and training horses, 所以我对他们很有用，因为我知道如何在牧场上快速地抓住一匹马，我知道如何驾驭奶牛,” she said.

她每天都能应用自己的科学知识，但有一次机会很突出. 

“今年夏天，我们给一头刚剖腹产的奶牛做手术, 她在切口处出现了血肿，我们正在想办法在她身上放两条人类肚带来施加压力，以帮助减轻炎症,” Stenning said. During this surgery, 斯坦宁意识到两件事:她喜欢手术的环境，而且她可以迅速地反应.

Being a woman in science is also something she takes to heart.

斯坦宁说:“我觉得女性必须克服太多不可思议的事情。. “For some reason, we get this stereotypical image of not being able to do things, and that’s not true. I just want to be a good example for future generations."

她还帮助恢复了一个闲置多年的ODU学生组织. 在2020年大二期间，她恢复了兽医预科俱乐部. At its first Zoom meeting, she said six students showed up. But by her senior year, the club grew to nearly 60 members.

他们在诺福克动物园和汉普顿路周围的许多地方做志愿者.

“我真的很自豪，我能够带回兽医预科俱乐部，离开ODU时知道它能够继续发展,” she said.

Stenning speaks highly of ODU faculty.

“我在ODU的所有教授都非常棒，”她说.

There are four people she feels particularly supported her. First is biological sciences Professor Doug Mills. “他是我在ODU的第一位教授，我们对他的讲座进行了很多公开讨论,” Stenning said.

第二位是科学学院的学术顾问Kerri Musick. “I would not have been able to be where I am without her. She has helped me so much with my scheduling.”

第三位是雷纳尔多·兰德尔，他是科学学院的指导主任. “He gave me a really nice compliment last semester, 他给我写兽医学校推荐信的时候也这么说, he had to use size 10 font instead of 12.”

最后一位是艺术与文学学院副教授Luis Guadano. 斯坦宁说:“我觉得我找不到比他更好的西班牙语导师了。. “He is the reason I am able to finish my Spanish minor.”

还有一个人，斯坦宁有机会与他见过两次面:ODU总裁布莱恩. Hemphill, Ph.D. 她参加了他为荣誉学院学生举办的两次晚宴.

“President Hemphill's just a really cool president, and I'm glad they chose him for the job, and you know his wife speaks Spanish? It's really nice to just see a family like that behind ODU, and supporting ODU and guiding it into the future,” she said.

现在，斯坦宁的目标是申请兽医学校，当她回顾自己的旅程时, 她感激每一个帮助她到达终点线的人.