Content Warning: Racism, verbal abuse, barking dogs, sexism
Episode Description: Joi Spears compares and contrasts two stories centered around her work as a Vet Tech and key moments in the support (or lack there of) from her managers during moments of acute racism.
In their own words: Joi Spears is a veterinary technician, laboratory technician, visual artist, and volunteer zookeeper in Phoenix, Arizona. Having taken an unconventional approach to life science, she originally wanted to be a veterinarian, but her creative interests took her in a different direction. After finishing her undergraduate studies in visual and public art at California State University, Monterey Bay, she spent time working as an art teacher and freelance artist in her hometown of Los Angeles. After a while, she realized she hadn’t yet given up on her love of science and interest in working with animals, and later moved to Phoenix with her husband and two toddlers, where she returned to school with vet school in mind. To gain experience in the field, she has worked in veterinary clinics, laboratories, and volunteered at zoos and wildlife rehab facilities, where she quickly developed a particular fascination with parasites. In addition to her work in the clinic, she also volunteers at a zoo where she works with primates, her favorite of which are the very rare pileated gibbons. Now, she is preparing to start graduate school this Fall, where she will be studying Environmental and Global Health, with a focus on veterinary entomology and parasitology.
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