Profiles of 2004 Graduating Students

Hilda Mitchell: Patiently helping farmers to put food on the table

By Roger Segelken

Hilda Mitchell, right, soon to be a 2004 D.V.M. graduate, and younger sister Becky, a D.V.M.-Ph.D. candidate in the College of Veterinary Medicine, pose with a member of their favorite bovine species. Alexis Wenski-Roberts/Veterinary Image Lab

Helping her sister, Becky, run the family sheep farm in Skaneateles, N.Y., is what propelled Hilda Mitchell toward a career in veterinary medicine. But it took undergraduate classes in animal science at Cornell to convince the would-be veterinarian that she really does have the drive to become a contributing part of the greater agricultural community, to help farmers put food on the table.

First, however, Mitchell took a little detour-- a post-high school sojourn in New Zealand, where she studied wool science and prepared for the fiber science program in Cornell's College of Human Ecology. She was learning the latest in textile design and production, and looking forward to the challenges of clothing her fellow humans. Still, Mitchell kept coming back to her dream of working hands-on with living animals.

So in her senior year at Cornell, Mitchell changed directions, colleges and majors -- to animal science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. A class in meat science was particularly influential, Mitchell recalled: "It pulled together the basics of anatomy, physiology and food production, and also tested my ability to deal with the pressures of production-animal medicine."

In the College of Veterinary Medicine, Mitchell's interests changed from sheep to cows, and she found "the dairy veterinary education program here is strong and growing. The support and enthusiasm of the faculty are infectious," she said. Her teachers encouraged her to attend professional meetings, such as annual conferences of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners, and that led to externships with association officials in Michigan.

"Interacting with leaders in the field of dairy production medicine," she said, "was inspiring and confirmed to me the importance of this career."

Next stop for Mitchell is work as a dairy veterinarian, although career goals will get in the way of romance -- at least temporarily. All the job opportunities are four hours away from the dairy farm of her fiancé (Kevin Dougherty, a 2002 Cornell animal science grad) in Corry, Pa.

"Kevin understands," she said, "and even though it will take some time, he's a patient man. We'll find a solution to make us both happy."

Patient, too, is Becky Mitchell. "Hilda's Little Sister," as the one-year-younger Mitchell was dubbed when she arrived at the Cornell veterinary college to enroll in a joint D.V.M./Ph.D. program.

That one takes seven years to complete.