July 21, 2026

by Lauren Ferguson

For as long as she can remember, Katelyn Molina ’25 has been fascinated by veterinary medicine.

“Growing up, I was in the clinic at my mom’s job and I saw what it was,” she recalled. While her mother worked as a receptionist in a veterinarian’s office, Molina would spend time in the back “bothering” the veterinary technicians and veterinarians, she said.

The early exposure to veterinary medicine sparked a passion in her that she eventually cultivated as a biology major and neuroscience minor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, where she took a pre-vet course load of science classes geared toward getting into veterinary school.

With the dynamic education and encouraging guidance she received at Ramapo, the first-generation college student refined her ambitions and is on her way to achieving her goals. She was accepted to veterinary school and is set to begin this fall.

“I want to be an advocate for species that can’t speak,” said Molina, of North Arlington, NJ. Ultimately, she wants to further the field of veterinary medicine by conducting research on surgical innovations and prolonging animal life longevity, she explained.

Gaining Real-World Experience

With her sights set on becoming a veterinarian, Molina has spent her time since graduating from Ramapo gaining experience with different species, in different settings, and under different stress levels, she explained. She is currently a zookeeper at the Bergen County Zoo.

“When I was applying for the job, I was like, ‘What is the day in the life of a zookeeper?’ It changes every single day,” she said.

Molina has been working with the North American domestic animals at the zoo in Paramus, NJ. She cares for, monitors and creates enrichment activities for animals such as sheep, goats, chickens, prairie dogs, bison, elk and even a bald eagle. She also trained in the farm section, where she works with a horse, donkey, cow, barn owls, geese and pigs.

“I am learning so much,” Molina said. She and other team members complete daily sheets noting each animal’s needs and behaviors. “We all have the same goal and are working toward the same mission, to ensure animal welfare and wellbeing is kept in the best possible way,” she said.

Katelyn Molina ’25 works with a monkey at the Staten Island Zoo.

She also completed a 10-week internship at the Staten Island Zoo, where she served as an animal care intern in the tropical rainforest section. There, she worked with a variety of species such as sloths, marmoset monkeys, ostriches and different types of tropical birds. For her internship project, she worked to train a green oropendola bird to comfortably get inside a crate for exams.

“She was very comfortable with me. She would perch on my hand. She would listen to me. I was able to get her in the crate successfully at times,” Molina recalled fondly.

Molina said the most rewarding part of her work at both zoos is “the relationships that I am building with these animals.”

“At the end of the day, we bring more life, more health and more awareness to the animals,” she said.

Molina also does overnights as a scribe for an emergency veterinary hospital, where she works one-on-one with a veterinarian, does medical charting, and creates estimates for different types of treatment plans.

Conducting Research at Ramapo

Balancing a busy schedule is nothing new for Molina. While a student at Ramapo, she volunteered to work with horses at the Bergen County Horse Rescue and Pony Power Therapies, both just down the street from Ramapo’s picturesque Mahwah, NJ campus.

She also became a valued member of Ramapo’s collaborative, connected community. She participated in Sophomores Advancing in Leadership, the Biology Club, the Alpha Alpha Alpha first-generation honor society, the Beta Beta Beta biology honor society, the McNair Scholars program, was a peer facilitator and mentored other STEM students, all while garnering valuable research experience.

She started gaining research experience under Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Joost Monen, who taught her genetics and experimental animal physiology courses. “He fostered that environment for creativity, for research … he made such an impact on my experience,” she said of Monen, who she also worked under as a teaching assistant.

At Ramapo College’s Scholars’ Day, Katelyn Molina ’25 presented research she conducted with Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Joost Monen, which provided insights into the effects of caffeine on regeneration.

Molina also conducted research in the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab with Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology Dr. Christian Reich. Their primary work involved studying laboratory animals using neurophysiological and behavioral techniques. First, she shadowed Reich, before becoming more “hands on,” she said. After graduating, she worked as a summer lab technician, teaching undergrads how to do surgeries and fear conditioning on rodents. “In the lab, I was administering medications, doing surgeries,” she explained.

During her time at Ramapo, Molina also said she found “a great mentor” and “a shoulder to lean on” in Dr. Sandra Suarez, director of the McNair Scholars program and the college’s STEM Center.

“Each of these professors have helped me grow into the person I’m striving to become. I am so thankful to each and every professor that has taught me, answered my questions, helped me learn things in a different way,” she said.

Taking the Next Step

Fueled by the spark her mother lit inside her by introducing her to the field of veterinary medicine as a child, her growing ambition to help animals and the support she received from her experienced, mentoring professors, Molina is ready to take the next step to reach her dreams.

She recently learned she was accepted into the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program at Rowan University’s Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine, where she will start this fall. The program “combines a robust medical sciences foundation with comprehensive hands-on clinical training,” according to its website.

Katelyn Molina ’25 graduated from Ramapo College and has been accepted to veterinary school.

“I feel like this is exactly the life I was supposed to be living. I know that it’s a hard field, but I couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else,” Molina said. “I am exactly where I’m supposed to be, and Ramapo has prepared me in a way that I don’t think I would have ever had these experiences if I didn’t go to Ramapo.”