Triumphant Trio

Friendship helps third-year students navigate their way through veterinary school.

Story by Joe Montgomery

Meet third-year students Christinea Wagner, Danqin Li and Gabriele McGee. Photo by Gabrielle McGee.

Veterinary medicine, music, meals — and memories.

These are some of the pursuits that have brought together a trio of third-year veterinary students. While the three students had not met before attending the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine, it seemed inevitable that their roads would lead to Manhattan for new adventures together.

Christinea Wagner is originally from Washington state, but has lived in Manhattan for the past five years. She came to K-State with an undergraduate degree in psychology already in-hand from Seattle University, with the intent to complete her science prerequisites to apply to veterinary school.

“Since I completed two years in an undergraduate program, I was awarded an additional undergraduate degree in veterinary medicine from K-State after completing my first two years in veterinary school,” she says.

Christinea and her husband were stationed at Fort Riley several years prior to choosing to apply for veterinary school.

“We knew about the veterinary school here, and we kind of kept that in mind as a place that might allow us to stay together, given my husband’s military career,” Christinea says.

Gabrielle McGee came from the complete opposite side of the country – North Carolina – but for similar reasons.

“I did my undergrad here at K-State and received my bachelor’s in biology. I also received my master’s degree in veterinary biomedical sciences from K-State,” she says. “I ended up in Kansas because my husband was in the US Army and stationed at Fort Riley.”

The third part of their trio traveled to K-State, not from across the country, but from across the globe.

“My name is Danqin [pronounced like Dan-Chin], and I’m originally from Chengdu, China,” says Danqin Li. “I finished my undergrad study at Sichuan Agriculture University, where I majored in animal and plant quarantine studies.”

“Christinea and I were trying to figure out where we were going to sit in the lecture hall during the first week of classes,” Gabrielle says. “We saw Danqin sitting by herself and we just said, ‘Let’s go sit with her.’ After that, we just sat together again every day. We were pretty much inseparable from that moment on!”

Danqin holds a cat for Christinea whilee she listens through her stethoscope. Photo by Gabrielle McGee.

Values of friendship

Just in the way that their trio came together in unique fashion, they each have their own special interests within veterinary medicine. Christinea is interested in shelter medicine, Danqin enjoys research and swine medicine, and Gabrielle likes exotics and wildlife. Supporting each other while having different interests and being members of different clubs among them has expanded their opportunities.

“Gabrielle might share an opportunity that involves exotic animals sometimes, a field I’m not usually involved in,” says Danqin. “Without her or Christinea, I might miss out on valuable experiences. I’m grateful they’re so willing to share the opportunity and encourage me to try new things.”

Christinea says her favorite is when they went to a swine wet lab. Something she and Gabrielle had never considered as they thought it was only for swine club members. Danqin convinced them otherwise.

“We learned how to do restraint and collect a blood sample from the jugular vein and about entering and exiting the research facility while maintaining biosecurity,” Gabrielle says. “It was a cool experience because I had never done that before, but knowing that Danqin had done it and knew what we were supposed to do, gave me more confidence in doing something I was unsure about.”

First-year welcome session

First-year jitters are common — and even expected — when starting veterinary school. It was no different for Gabrielle who found herself at first-year orientation a bit nervous, without knowing anyone.

“It can feel isolating when you go somewhere and you don’t really know anybody,” Gabrielle says.

Fortunately, Christinea introduced herself to Gabrielle during orientation. She asked Gabrielle if she could sit with her to which she enthusiastically responded, “Yes, please!”

“And that’s how we met,” Gabrielle says. “We hung out the whole day and talked about how nervous and excited we were to be staring veterinary school.”

Christinea and Gabrielle would not meet Danqin until after orientation.

Gabrielle and Christinea preparee efor larg animal classees in Mosier Hall. Courtesy Photo.

As friends, they talk about how they are able to support each other with the challenging aspects of being veterinary students.

“We don’t necessarily spend a lot of time preparing for exams by studying together,” Danqin says. “Each of us has our own way of learning.”

Danqin said the friends make it a point to meet after they finishing taking an exam.

“We always come together to talk it through,” Danqin says. “That time means a lot to me. I take the exam very slowly, but I always know my friends are waiting outside the classroom for me. Those moments we share are truly special to me — I get emotional because it reminds me how lucky I am to have their unwavering support and I’m very appreciative of the time we shared together.”

“We always like to decompress after an exam,” Gabrielle says. “We like to talk through the test afterwards to see what we did well, what we could do better — or talk about something other than school. Sometimes a faculty member will pass by our post-exam meeting spot and ask, ‘What are you guys always doing here?’”

The three friends laugh about this.

Multicultural Night gives Christinea and Danqin an opportunity to try some international foods. Courtesy Photo.

Danqin, Christinea and Gabrielle wave flags of different countries during the CVM Multicultural Night in 2023. Courtesy Photo.

Finding common ground

While each of them is from a different place geographically, the friends find they connect well with each other, sometimes for unexpected reasons.

“Even though we have different backgrounds I think we have similar values,” Christinea says. “I would say that’s the thing that puts us on a similar plane and where we relate to each other — we’re very family oriented, we love our pets and we are focused on school.”

On their differences, Gabrielle says, “We can share and learn from each other. I think a lot of the time when people choose their friends, usually they choose people that think like them and look like them. But I feel like that’s what’s different about us,” Gabrielle further emphasizes. “Our differences are what made us want to be friends.”

When asked about the dynamics of the friend group, Christinea says, “I often talk about things that we’ve experienced at school together with my husband. If I say I learned something new about pigs, he’ll ask what Danqin thinks. Or if I have difficulty with something from clinical skills, he’ll suggest I practice with Gabrielle because she has more experience. Danqin hasn’t met my husband, Brandon, in person yet, but I feel like they still know a lot about each other.”

“My husband, Holdyn, knows Christinea and Danqin — he’s met them, and he loves them,” Gabrielle says. “He encourages me to have a support system outside of home because we spend more time here at the college than we do at home. So honestly, I’m with them more than I am with him, so I feel like he’s always been supportive of our friendship.”

Friends for life

“Sometimes we talk about what things will be like after we graduate,” Danqin says.

Part of Christinea’s career decision will depend on where her husband is stationed in the Army.

“Right now, I’m interested in shelter medicine,” Christinea says. “There are a couple of specialty areas I’m interested in, but I’ll wait to see where we end up.”

Gabrielle hopes to end up in Charleston, South Carolina, while leaning towards exotic and wildlife medicine as her career preference. Both Christinea and Gabrielle, know they would like to visit at least one other destination other than where their careers take them.

“We definitely want to visit each other after we graduate,” Gabrielle says. “We would love to see [Danqin’s] hometown.”

“You guys are always welcome to come home with me,” Danqin says to Gabrielle and Christinea.

And with that comment, all three laugh together knowing their friendship will last.

Gabrielle, Christinea and Danqin mark the first day of their third-year studies. Courtsey Photo.