Like many veterinary students, Esteban Barajas always knew he wanted to work with animals. As a child, he spent summers on his grandparents’ dairy farm in Mexico. As he grew older, he became more involved with the care and management of dairy cows and more interested in pursuing veterinary medicine as a career. He attended Loyola University Chicago as an undergraduate, where he majored in biology and worked in a laboratory studying the regulation of heart contractile proteins in zebrafish. In fall 2015, Barajas began the DVM program at the Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

Now, Barajas is the president of the Class of 2019, an active member of two clubs, and the recipient of the Jeffrey Edward Armbrecht Endowment Scholarship. The scholarship supports veterinary students interested in exotics and wildlife, a specialty Barajas was passionate about long before making the move from his native Chicago to East Lansing.
“You see a lot of exotic animals in Chicago,” Barajas says. “I shadowed veterinarians at the Niles Animal Hospital and Bird Medical Center for two years before coming to MSU. I was able to observe both avian and non-avian exotic surgeries, which confirmed my interest in wildlife and exotics.”

At MSU, Barajas became more involved in the field, expanding his veterinary knowledge and skill sets as he did so.

“When I got to MSU, I joined the Zoo, Exotics, and Wildlife Club, which allowed me to learn about animals not usually seen in classrooms,” Barajas says. “I also regularly visit the Wildlife Ward in the MSU Veterinary Medical Center to learn about the cases they are handling and absorb as much information as I can.”

Dr. James Sikarskie, associate professor in the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences and head of the Wildlife Ward, promotes wildlife cases as a way for students to gain experience working with non-traditional and non-domestic species. Sikarskie said that the Jeffrey Edward Armbrecht Endowment Scholarship can make a world of difference for students interested in gaining outside experience with wildlife and exotics.  

“The Jeffrey Edward Armbrecht Endowment Scholarship allows our students to visit exciting places off-campus where they can gain experience in areas of special interest that may not be covered extensively in our curriculum,” Sikarskie says. “Our curriculum allows students to get credit for rotations away from MSU so they can tailor their training to fit their interests. It is wonderful to have this kind of financial support so students can pursue their passions.”

Although he has another semester before clinics begin, Barajas has already begun solidifying externship opportunities that focus on exotics and wildlife. He also is applying for summer positions in the field.
“This scholarship is allowing me to pursue opportunities for this summer that I would have never considered to be a possibility before,” says Barajas. “I’ve started to look ahead at externships for next spring that will expose me to as many different cases as possible. My scholarship has allowed me to focus on what it really is that I want to do.”

In addition to providing financial assistance, Barajas says that the scholarship has increased his confidence.

“Getting a scholarship is an amazing confidence boost,” Barajas says. “It makes you feel like all of your hard work, all of your effort, has been recognized. It has been a great motivator for me to keep going, and I can’t thank my donors enough for their generosity.”

For more information about how you can support the College’s students, contact development@cvm.msu.edu.