posted January 31, 2008 10:45 AM         

http://www.komotv.com/news/local/14848331.html

By Keith Eldridge

Watch the story

OLYMPIA - Veterinarians at a local clinic are amazed that one of their assistants can do the work she's doing, given her unique situation.

Ten-year-old Courtney Oliver just completed her college work for this occupation. She now holds an on-line certification as a veterinary assistant. In eight months, Courtney had the same certification as her adult co-workers.

Courtney says she knew early in life this is what she wanted to do.

"I have a dog Maggie and two hamsters and I just thought: 'Well, if I have so many animals why don't I just work with them?'"

At 10-years-old?

"Might as well get it done early as get it done late," she said.

She got over her initial fright over the sight of blood.

"The first day it kind of made me nervous," Courtney said. "But I'm like, 'when can I do that?' It doesn't really scare me because we have blood. Why be scared of it?"

Dr. Michelle Shoemaker at the South Bay Veterinary Hospital in Olympia has been Courtney's mentor.

"She's amazing. She's a wonderful girl," she said. "Always been so bright, very, very smart actually. We quiz her quite often here. They questions and the studies she's been doing and she always knows the answers and she's always right in there wanting to help out. Amazing girl."

"Dr. Shoemaker and I are like twins," Courtney added. "We just love animals. We just wanted to do this because this is our thing."

Despite all of her qualifications and despite her college degree, Courtney can't be in surgery by herself. Her mother has to be here with her as she volunteers. State law says that she's just too young.

But don't tell Courtney. This 10-year-old is too busy tending to the needs of these veterinary patients.

posted January 31, 2008 11:26 PM         

Really makes one wonder if she carried this interest and dedication from previous incarnations however.
She is so very young and "just always knew" heee...heee...
Heck, I just turned 37 yrs and I'm still exploring my options, LOL!

With sweet natured children like this...
Our future businesses are sure to succeed!

On a side note -I just noticed how high your post count had gotten: 12700 -Oh my...
You may need to have Randall reset that number pretty soon before you crash the site, LOL!

posted February 01, 2008 03:11 AM         

"Dr. Shoemaker and I are like twins," Courtney added. "We just love animals. We just wanted to do this because this is our thing."

I thought that was really cute.

LOL! Well, i dont post like i used to (have i set a record? lol), i'm kinda 'fizzling out' anyway.

BTW, i wanted to say thank you for the links to all of those e-books. I really appreciate it and will be finding time to read some of them soon. Thank you for sharing them.

Blessings.