Palmerston North vet student Lucy Mossman wins Animal and Plant Health NZ scholarship

Massey University vet student and scholarship winner Lucy Mossman at home near Gisborne with her dog Trev.

Animal and Plant Health NZ scholarship winner Lucy Mossman’s decision to become a rural vet came after chasing other careers.

Raised on a sheep and beef farm at Waerenga-O-Kuri near Gisborne, she dreamed of becoming a doctor, stemming from her own experience of a congenital heart defect.

Thankfully, open-heart surgery at the age of 2 fixed the “plumbing issue,” and she went on to a life full of sports, gaining seven national titles in gymnastics, trampolining and surf life saving.

Arriving at the University of Otago as an 18-year-old, with no competitive gymnastics, surf life saving or the farm to keep her busy, she “got stuck into the playground that is Dunedin”. The library was substituted for “exploring the surrounding hills and coast, snowboarding trips and possibly a few too many beers”.

Instead of the long hours of med school, she completed a Bachelor of Science, majoring in human nutrition. It wasn’t until she was working on the family farm as a fresh graduate that the puzzle pieces fell into place.

Her eureka moment came as she watched a vet pregnancy testing out-of-season heifers. Mossman realised being a rural vet would combine her love of the outdoors, farming and medicine. “I’m still stumped that I didn’t choose it earlier.”

She is now halfway through her veterinary science degree at Massey University in Palmerston North and says her excitement for joining the profession is only growing.

Winning $2500 will ease some financial pressures of student life, including funding the veterinary placements she must complete for her studies.

When she hasn’t got her head in a book, Mossman enjoys CrossFit, fishing, hunting and snowboarding.

Lucy Mossman, 2, in Greenlane Hospital in Auckland after successful open-heart surgery.