“I wanted to go somewhere small because my high school was small, and I felt like a bigger school would be really overwhelming for me,” Raigan says. “I wanted to go somewhere close to home because I'm a homebody, and I love my family.” 

She accepted the offer and soon learned that Union offered a pre-professional track in veterinary medicine. “Well, that makes this place even better,” she recalls thinking.

Union’s partnership with a school of veterinary medicine is one of various pre-professional agreements that give students like Raigan a unique advantage. When she graduates next year, she will have a shot at one of five seats reserved just for Union students at the vet school.  

“I have always had a passion for animals and always knew I wanted to work with them,” she says. The pre-professional agreement gives Raigan a clear path to achieve her dream, and Union’s small student-faculty ratio provides the support needed to ease the application process.

Another thing Raigan appreciates about Union’s small size is the opportunity to really get to know her professors and peers and to have their support as her interests and needs evolve. “It's such a small campus. I really love that because I can talk to anybody,” she says.

As Raigan has advanced in her degree, she has realized she wants more time to focus on academics and less on athletics. She talked to her teammates and coach and found that she was respected and supported in her decision to take a break from the team. Coach Aleka Carr told her she was “always welcome back” and that she could stay on the scholarship because she is a good student.

“I do miss basketball, but it's better for me and my career path to take a break right now,” Raigan says.