It was the opportunity to get her hands dirty, so to speak, in her freshman year that drew Beloved Nicholson to N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University.
“We got to work on the (University) Farm with the animals, which I thought that was really cool because that was the only program that I found when I was applying to colleges that would have us first-year students in the field, doing stuff hands on,” said Nicholson, who graduates this month with a bachelor of science in animal science.
The Syracuse, New York, native wants to work with carnivores. “I want to move more into the wildlife and conservation aspect,” the 22-year-old said.
Beloved Nicholson
She’s considering applying for a master’s assistantship at the North Carolina Zoo and also exploring possible opportunities at the Greensboro Science Center.
But first, she plans to take a few months off after graduation.
“I have been in school, literally, spring, summer, fall and winter since I’ve been in college,” she said.
During that time, she completed four internships in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, working with cows, goats and sheep, and participating in research involving reproductive biology and evaluating cells in dairy milk.
Last summer she participated in Loop Abroad, studying for four weeks in South Africa: two weeks at a zoo in Johannesburg and two weeks at a cheetah conservation park in Georgia.
“That was really cool going down to Africa and being a part of everything,” she said. “We had an endoscopy on one of the cheetahs, and we were like the nurses, basically - we had to check their respiration and their heart rate like a nurse during the procedure.”
As a first-generation university student, Nicholson said she is grateful for the TRiO programs and has been a TRiO Student Support Services member throughout her time at N.C. A&T.
TRIO is a federal outreach program that, among other things, assists first-generation college students.
“That was my favorite program,” said Nicholson, who was among the first students inducted into the N.C. A&T TRIO McNair Scholarship Program. “They just literally help you with everything. I am a TRiO advocate for real.”
