Leader in the Making - Fall 2020
Adrian Santoyo - Class of 2024
by Amy Young
When Adrian Santoyo was in kindergarten, he drew a picture with a caption that said: “When I grow up, I want to be a doctor for the little cows.”
He happened across it years later while deciding which major to choose at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, taking it as a sign that Animal Science was the right choice. Today, Santoyo is a member of the newly welcomed DVM Class of 2024 at UC Davis, and on the way to making his dream a reality.
The calves on the ranch where his father worked inspired Santoyo’s love of “little cows.”
Before he was old enough to go to school, Santoyo would accompany his father to the ranch in the mornings and loved seeing him work with the animals. His family has a farm in Delano, California, where they have cattle, sheep and horses.
Growing up in the Central Valley, Santoyo came to Davis on school trips and always thought it was somewhere he would like to be. The first in his family to go to college, he says, “They’re really proud and interested in what I’m doing.”
Being close to home was one of the factors that led him to UC Davis. “That,” he admits, “and the fact that it’s number one in the world.”
Although starting veterinary school amidst the COVID-19 pandemic was not part of the plan, he is making the best of it. Classes are mostly online, with some labs on campus, physically distanced, while wearing masks.
“It’s been hard. I feel like I’m missing out on the experience of being in the classroom around my peers,” says Santoyo. “There hasn’t really been the opportunity to meet my classmates as much as I would like, but everyone is trying to help each other out.”
He credits the professors with “working around everything and making the experience go well.” He says that even the remotely held White Coat Ceremony, where first year students take the veterinarian’s oath and are welcomed into the profession, was still a special and exciting event.
When the pandemic is over, Santoyo looks forward to getting to know his classmates better and developing closer relationships with those who share similar interests. Thanks to a viral Twitter post that featured his kindergarten drawing and landed him on the local news, he’s making connections quickly.
“Now I’m finally famous,” he jokes. “A lot of my classmates saw it and were excited about it. We’re all in the same boat. A lot of them could relate to it.”
Santoyo’s career focus is on large animals, but he says he’s approaching everything with an open mind and seeing what he’d like to do. He thinks he might specialize in theriogenology (reproduction) since he has raised animals and has always been interested in his genetics and reproduction classes. In other words, “a doctor for the little cows,” just as he predicted all those years ago.