Alumni Spotlight
BIANCA KIRKLAND ’06
Multiple Paths, One Amazing Journey We all need something that makes us feel alive. Maybe it’s a pursuit that adds extra meaning to life or an activity that provides a sense of fulfillment or purpose. Fortunately for Bianca Kirkland, she did not limit herself to just one interest that made her happy. She is proof that multiple passions can come from two completely different worlds. Bianca’s first love was working with animals. She spent the summers of her teen years volunteering at the Houston Zoo and shelters across Houston. Those experiences eventually led her to her first job at a local animal hospital. “I was always so intrigued by animals as a kid,” says Kirkland. “To now be able to help creatures that can’t speak for themselves is challenging yet fascinating at the same time; it was even more rewarding though to make them feel better and send them back happy and healthy to their loving homes.” Dance is her other passion. A passion she found while at EHS. She came to the campus with zero experience, but after only one semester Bianca fell in love with the art form and knew it was something she wanted to continue in college. “My mother actually made the suggestion for me to take dance class,” says Kirkland. “I had always been more into sports, but dance was something new and different, a way for me to express myself like I never had before. Dance teachers Evelyn Ireton and Frank Vega were my first introduction into the dance world, and they left a long-lasting impression on me.” They left such an impression that Bianca went on to Texas A&M University where she starred as a member of the Aggie Dance Team while earning a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences with a minor in Dance Science. After college, she moved to New York City where she enjoyed a professional dance career for 18 months. She danced in the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive Concert and was an Instructor and Performer for Sizzle Dance Company.
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To supplement her income while in NYC, Bianca naturally gravitated toward something that was familiar and that she loved as much as dance. She worked days as a technician at an animal hospital while still going to rehearsals and auditions in the evenings. After long talks in the surgery suite with the doctors she worked alongside, Bianca’s passion for animal care was reignited. Although she loved dancing, she knew it was time to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a veterinarian. She applied to and attended Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine on the island of Saint Kitts in the Caribbean. Today she is a practicing veterinarian at one of the largest animal hospitals in Houston. Knowing that she was not limited to one path is something Bianca is most grateful for from her time at EHS. That perspective played a pivotal role when she decided to pursue a career in veterinary work. “EHS helped me realize that I didn’t have to choose one or the other. It was time to take a step back from dance to pursue my lifelong goal of becoming a veterinarian. Through the EHS curriculum and Four Pillars, we were able to experience all kinds of things and develop talents we might not have known we had otherwise. Our career plans may not happen exactly how we want them to but finding what you love in life is the joy of the journey. I wouldn’t change a thing.” —Chief Achilefu ’03
