Making a gift to a worthy cause is often compared to tossing a pebble into a pond—you never know how far the ripples will extend.
When Joan and Marty Pfinsgraff, classes of 1976 and 1977 respectively, decided to make a gift to create a fund supporting research opportunities in psychology, biology, and chemistry, they had no idea those ripples would extend all the way to the Mediterranean Sea—and who knows how far into the future of a student with a dream of becoming a veterinarian.
Through the Pfinsgraffs' generosity, student Christina Howard spent a summer as a volunteer at ARCHELON Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Athens, Greece. "For five weeks," Christina explains, "I was in constant contact with between eighteen and twenty-five sick and injured sea turtles, treating their various illnesses and injuries under the guidance of veterinarians and wildlife biologists."
Christina received valuable training that she was able to put to immediate use. She did her share of grunt work, to be sure. Cleaning tanks and helping to maintain the center's grounds were part of her daily routine. But she also got the kind of experience that challenged her skills and tested her mettle. She administered tube feedings, ran intra-muscular drips, and assisted with other special procedures.
"A common injury to sea turtles is ingestion of fish hooks," Christina says. "One of the most unique experiences I had was aiding the veterinarian in a hook-removal surgery on a female loggerhead sea turtle. The two hooks were decaying in her esophagus, slowly poisoning her. I acted as a veterinary technician for the surgery, helping the veterinarian clean out the esophagus. It was amazing!"
Christina, a biology major and history minor, describes her volunteer work as "the opportunity of a lifetime." Not only was she able to expand her knowledge of veterinary medicine, but she was able to have a direct impact on the conservation of sea turtles—and to connect with other students and researchers from around the globe.
In one short summer, the Pfinsgraffs' gift translated into a remarkable opportunity for one student to advance her interest and skill in veterinary medicine and conservation—and it also translated into direct help for endangered species like the loggerhead. For Christina, that opportunity reaffirmed her commitment to making a difference. "I was able to experience the joy of releasing three rehabilitated sea turtles back into the Mediterranean," she recalls with undisguised pride. "After all of the long hours of helping care for these creatures, watching them dive into the sea made all the hours of work worth it."
