By Brandon T. Bisceglia
Haley Cannon with her foster kitten, Cheddar. Contributed photo.
When Haley Cannon heard about the summer internship stipend program at Lasell College, she wasn’t sure she should apply.
She’s glad now that she did, though. The program helped the West Haven native and biology major land a stint at the Orange Veterinary Hospital, where she’s gained experience she says will be valuable in her chosen field.
Her day at Orange Veterinary Hospital gives her exposure to all facets of the business, from taking appointments to giving vaccinations to clipping nails, which, she notes, “the dogs don’t usually like.”
The hospital liked Cannon’s work so much that after her internship period expired, she was hired as a veterinary technician.
“The internship was the best thing that could have happened for me, because now I have a solid job there,” she said.
Cannon, who will be a senior in the fall at Newton, Massachusetts-based Lasell, has always had a love of helping animals.
“I grew up watching Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin. It was what I was most interested in,” she said. “I loved watching Animal Planet.”
She volunteered at animal shelters throughout her teens, including at the West Haven Animal Shelter.
Although Cannon could have focused more directly on veterinary medicine going into college, she decided that a biology degree would offer her more opportunities.
“Veterinary school, from what I’ve heard and what I understand, is extremely hard to get into, and I didn’t always have the confidence that I’d be able to through with that,” she said. “Since I have a love for science, there’s always research possibilities, environmental possibilities – all things that I enjoy.”
Cannon originally attended Mount Ida College, also in Newton. When that college closed in 2018, many of the students, Cannon among them, were absorbed into the nearby Lasell community.
As luck would have it, Lasell had recently instituted its own biology degree program. According to Lasell spokeswoman Samantha Mocle, the biology program was created in the last few years and added to already existing programs in the School of Health Sciences.
“We previously offered a number of biology courses, but didn’t offer an official degree in it – it was sort of supplementary to other programs in the health sciences,” Mocle said.
Lasell underwent a $24 million renovation in 2015 that included building new science labs for the biology program.
Cannon initially didn’t think she had a good chance of getting into the summer internship stipend program, which provides $3,000 grants for up to 10 students who have been offered unpaid internships in their field of study. It took some convincing from a mentor in the Student Alumni Association who had also gone through the stipend program when she was a student to get Cannon to apply.
“She was telling me it’s definitely worth it to apply, that it helped her tremendously,” Cannon said.
Now, her experience at Orange Veterinary Hospital has given her an edge in pursuing the veterinary medicine career she hopes to go into down the road.
“Drawing blood is a skill. Taking x-rays is a skill. All these I can add to the list of things I can say to an interviewer,” she said.
Cannon’s time at Orange Veterinary Hospital has also boosted her self-confidence.
“I was really nervous going in that I wouldn’t fit in,” she said. “I just can’t stress enough how good the team is, how welcoming they were to me. That really boosted my confidence.”