How Earlham College helped Briana Ancalmo get into veterinary school

Briana Ancalmo ‘26 began her journey through Earlham College accompanied by a steadfast companion: her horse Apollo.

“The first thing that drew me to Earlham was the equestrian program,” Ancalmo says. “A big draw was being able to bring my horse to school. Many larger schools don’t allow competition until your junior year, but at Earlham, we have people who have no horse experience but who get right into the barn, no matter their level.” 

Ancalmo knew from day one that she was interested in the College’s pre-veterinarian track. She began working closely with her advisor, Wendy Tori, professor of biology and the Martha Sykes Hansen Endowed Chair in Biology for Ornithology, to make sure she would have the various pre-requisites she needed to be fully prepared.

“The first thing that drew me to Earlham was the equestrian program. A big draw was being able to bring my horse to school. Many larger schools don’t allow competition until your junior year, but at Earlham, we have people who have no horse experience but who get right into the barn, no matter their level.”

— Briana Ancalmo ’26

“Wendy was there every step of the way, helping me figure out my four-year plan and starting to look at vet schools,” Ancalmo says. “The equestrian program was also a big part of what helped me prepare for vet school, since there are literally on-campus opportunities to work with animals.”

During early COVID, the equestrian program experienced a temporary shutdown, but Ancalmo and her fellow students put in the work to build the student-run barn program back up, adding a part-time barn manager to help support the students and generating interest through a lessons program and student involvement in team equestrian competition.

Ancalmo majored in biochemistry, and throughout her education she has kept her eyes open for new opportunities and possibilities: both a high school experience learning about zoo medicine and a summer term in Costa Rica through Earlham connected her to the wide world in which animal medicine is practiced.

Years later, she opted to return to Costa Rica, deepening her tie to that country. “I used my Epic Advantage funding to do an externship at a rescue center in Costa Rica,” Ancalmo says about Earlham’s offer to every student of up to $5,000 to participate in an internship or other career-focused experience. 

“It was incredible to make friends in the organization with other volunteers and to learn about rescue medicine.”

Ancalmo thinks fondly of multiple courses she was able to take, like “Parasitology and Microbiology,” and she also was able to take a wilderness first responder course that connected her with area locals as well as traditional Earlham students.

Resilience, creativity, and hard work have brought Ancalmo (and Apollo!) to the finish line of their Earlham careers. She has been accepted to the College of Veterinary Medicine at The Ohio State University to pursue her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine.

Ancalmo isn’t certain which type of animals she’ll end up serving as a veterinarian, but she’s particularly excited about the possibility of going into surgery.

Story written by Laura Leavitt for the Earlham College Office of Marketing and Communications.

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About Earlham College 

Earlham College and Earlham School of Religion foster a collaborative learning community that inspires and motivates students with transformative opportunities and experiences so they can become catalysts for good in a changing world. Located in Richmond, Indiana, Earlham is one of U.S. News & World Report’s Top 100 national liberal arts colleges and offers one of the top 20 classroom experiences in the nation, according to the Princeton Review.