Upon successful completion of the program in August [2011], Christine Kamal will be the first deaf student to have graduated as a Veterinary Paramedic since the program began in 1971.

Christine was born in Aransas Pass, Texas, a small town north of Corpus Christi. She lived there for 17 years because of the Regional Day School for the Deaf Program and was mainstreamed with other students in both deaf and hearing classes. She attended Southwest Collegiate Institute for the Deaf where she majored in General Business.

After years of working for various employers in the business field, she became bored. Christine always wanted to work with animals, but just needed to find the right school.

Christine also hopes that in the future more employers can look upon a deaf person as being successful in a clinic environment – “even though I can’t hear, there are other ways of being able to work and perform well.”