Evelyn Beesaw is a second year vet student at Texas A&M University, a member of the class of 2028. Born and raised in Bryan, Texas, she attended Texas A&M for her undergraduate degree as well, where she rode on the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Equestrian Team and served as captain. Although she loves horses, her passion lies in small animal medicine – with a particular interest in felines. After graduating, she aspires to go into general practice in a metropolitan area (she’s not picky which one!)

Originally joining the VBMA at the advice of her roommates, she quickly became enraptured in the world of veterinary business – despite having no plans to open her own practice. Passionate about leadership, being elected Compliance Chair of the Texas A&M Chapter for 2025 led her to the National Meeting. After meeting the 2025 National Team, she felt drawn to apply to the National Board. The relationships she has formed since joining the Board have been life changing – go find her if you want to hear about it!

When not in school, Evelyn enjoys socializing with friends and family (bonus points if a football game is on), lifting weights, and playing chess. She also enjoys lazing at home, drinking iced coffee and reading a book with her gray tabby cat, Uni, and black Boxer, Velma.

If you want to chat about joining the National Board, how incredible Texas A&M is, or why cats are the most misunderstood creatures, please reach out at president@vbma.biz!

Veronica Gordon is a VMD Candidate in the Class of 2027 at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, she earned her bachelor’s degree in Geochemistry from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She previously served as the PennVet VBMA President-Elect and President before joining the National VBMA team.

Before beginning veterinary school, Veronica worked in competitive intelligence for a biotechnology startup, where she developed a strong interest in business strategy and personal finance. She discovered her path to veterinary medicine while working full-time and began shadowing veterinarians in the early mornings before her workday and later transitioned into a role as a veterinary assistant prior to applying to veterinary school. Her clinical interests include small animal general practice and diagnostic imaging, alongside a growing enthusiasm for practice management.

She became involved with VBMA after learning about the organization during her first-year orientation and was immediately inspired by its mission. Her experience in the startup world exposed her to the business landscape in which veterinary medicine operates and sparked a passion for helping future colleagues build the skills needed to thrive within it. Veronica is passionate about breaking down the stigma around finance within the profession and empowering veterinary students to make informed, intentional decisions as they develop their careers.

To Veronica, VBMA’s value lies not only in its business education and networking opportunities, but also in its ability to highlight the diverse career paths available to veterinary professionals. She hopes that students learn from VBMA speakers’ experiences and feel confident pursuing roles that align with their passions, strengths, and long-term goals.

Currently in her clinical year, she has completed rotations in Orthopedics, Internal Medicine, and Interventional Radiology. Outside of the hospital, she enjoys walking her dogs along Philadelphia’s Schuylkill River Trail, watching movies with her fiancé, and relaxing with a good book. An avid lover of the outdoors, she hikes whenever her schedule—and Philadelphia’s limited nature spots—allow.

Marcus McCaskill has DVM candidacy within the class of 2028 in the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and Iowa State University Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine. While that’s a long sentence, his interest in veterinary medicine goes the distance as well. Growing up in Omaha Nebraska, he lived in a city which held opportunities for kids interested in working with animals. In high school, he took one of these up in the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium Academy, where he learned about exotic animal husbandry and medicine from a unique lens. Around the same time, he was working in small animal medicine on the clinical side after school.

These experiences pushed him to look for more of what veterinary medicine has to offer during undergraduate, eventually leading him to apply to the veterinary program at his current institution. Through this, his ambition to establish a Wildlife Rehabilitation Site was created, one that has been made to feel more practical as a result of his time in vet school.

In a short time, Marcus was introduced to VBMA. This club provided practicality about how he could approach the creation of his practice, as his involvement in VBMA educated him on how to operate a veterinary-related business while furthering his own professional development. With these new takeaways in mind, Marcus headed to the 2025 national meeting and realized he could help provide such insights to his peers, on a larger scale. Soon after, he applied for the 2026 National Board and has been grateful to serve in this capacity ever since.

Aside from VBMA, Marcus finds himself ingrained in his university and college town community spaces. Ranging from teaching students in his scholarship program, working with a local organization named Big Gumdrop Outdoors or simply hanging out with long-time friends, he aims to foster connections in the spaces he finds himself in. Some pass-times of his also include: tending to his apartment garden, spending time with his lizard (named after a fruit) and messing about in the gym. He also likes to enjoy a good walk, so long as the weather cooperates.

Maura McManus is a class of 2027 DVM candidate at the University of Minnesota. Originally hailing from Naperville, IL, Maura spent 5 years living in Chicago prior to moving to Minneapolis, but living in a city has always been an important part of her life. For her undergraduate degree, she majored in Biochemistry and Italian Studies at Loyola University Chicago, and spent her gap year working at an animal hospital in the West Loop neighborhood of Chicago.

Maura is interested in small animal general practice with aspirations for leadership and management in some capacity. She will likely wind up back in Chicago, but has not ruled out other major US cities! Wherever she ends up, she plans on urban community involvement playing a role in her personal and professional life.

VBMA has been an integral part of Maura’s veterinary school career. She began as the Director of Marketing at her local chapter during her first year of vet school before being elected as President of the Minnesota VBMA in her second year. The self-directed nature of the organization and the opportunities for connection inspired her to apply for the National Board where she hopes to continue to foster connection between individuals in the veterinary field as the Director of Marketing!

Outside of vet school and VBMA, Maura’s passions include reading (and rating books on Goodreads), going to the movies (and rating them on Letterboxd), and trying new restaurants (and rating them on Beli). Her side quests include advocating for better public transit, learning Italian, and playing jazz bass.

Please never hesitate to reach out to Maura at marketing@vbma.biz with any marketing questions!