Kora Clark’s scientific theory: Life is messy and cats make it worth living

BY BROOKLYN MCKINNEY

Features Editor

Kora Clark knew she wanted to be a veterinarian since she was five years old when her teachers asked her about her interests on career day.

“Naturally, I was five, so they’re like... ‘Do you like puppies and kitties?’ I said, ‘Oh my gosh, yes.’ So they’re like, ‘Okay, you’re going to be a veterinarian for a day,’ and I was like, ‘Okay.”

Young Kora loved Lisa Frank, the Warriors book series and had “a weird fascination with death.”

“I think I was always so extroverted that I never noticed whenever other people would kind of be put off by things I would say and do, because I was just like, ‘I’m just me and my mommy says if I am myself, then I will make friends, and I am awesome,’” Clark said.

She enjoyed competing on Azle High School’s FFA CTE (Career and Technical Education) team and learning about all the different dog and cat breeds.

In high school, she would eventually discover that she had a love for not only animals, but also all things science, before her chemistry teacher, Mr. Tucker, recommended that she pursue a biomedical science degree while applying to pre-veterinarian school.

Clark became open to the possibility that the worlds of biomedical sciences and veterinarians can often intersect.

“Most doctors do have their background in being a scientist and doing lab work, and a lot of farmers do stuff like that too, and you don’t even think about it,” Clark said.

What seems to be special about Clark isn’t just her smarts when it comes to experimentation, but also her emotional intelligence and ability to have chemistry with just about anyone.

As soon as she came to Tarleton State University as a freshman, she was already well-loved by Purrs and Spurs, Tarleton’s Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) group. After putting together a slideshow that has produced many laughs to this day, she officially became their secretary.

Now, as the president of Purrs and Spurs, Clark and Vice President Jade Stalker have become not only friends, but also a dream team of executive officers.

“I think our current style is a combination of me and Kora’s favorite things. A lot of it was Kora’s design, and then I threw in a bunch of animated cat GIFS and memes and little joke slides because that’s the part I enjoy,” Stalker said. “I hate dull meetings. I’ve never been a fan of clubs that make their meetings feel like a lecture.”

According to Stalker, Clark is a vibrant personality who adds color to their lives.

“To have someone so excited and lively and bright, it definitely helped the room and kind of led into a really fun environment that kept me there,” Stalker said.

Her very introverted boyfriend of three years would probably say the same.

“Other people, especially his parents and his friends, will see how he interacts with me, and they’re like, ‘He’s never done that before in his life,’” Clark said.

As the “grumpy to her sunshine,” some have said that they make an unlikely pair.

“I think it’s so funny, because they’ll meet me and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, that girl is gay,’ and I’m like, ‘This is my boyfriend,” Clark said. “He looks like a lumberjack from the forest. Isn’t he wonderful?’”

With plans to become a vet tech and move in with him in Weatherford after graduation, she has not only been searching for cats to adopt into their family but also reflecting on how far she’s come in her college journey.

It doesn’t matter if Clark is five or a woman in her twenties; she has always dreamed big. After her kennel technician internship in an Austin veterinary clinic, her presence was missed so much that she was asked to return the following summer.

“When I was in Austin last year, I got another job as a shadow, so I went to the clinic every day, saw what they did, and just kind of hung out, helped with stuff, and was able to go into rooms and experience that a lot more,” Clark said. “And that was really fun too, because they were just so sweet.”

Carrying this energy into college, along with her love for all things animal science-related, has gotten her far.

“She is easily one of the most go-getter type people I’ve ever met, very much like boots on the ground running, constantly going.”

This past year, she excelled as she took on the role of Purrs and Spurs president, not only increasing club retention rates with the power of cat memes, but also teaming up with the Erath County Humane Society to hold a campus thrift store event, getting rid of their leftover warehouse donations. In the first semester alone, they had already raised more than $1,000.

“Having Kora as a leader has genuinely been a blessing. And a lot of moments I think this has been on the outside, one of our most successful years as long as I’ve been here,” Stalker said.

Before, they had been losing money after every TNR, and members were walking away from left to right, but Clark persevered.

“I think being able to deal with that and then continue pushing was really admirable, and I think one of the main reasons I stayed is because of the amount of effort Kora put into everything. It made me want to put more effort into it,” Stalker said.

While she may not have gotten into veterinarian school the first time she applied, Clark has never found a reason to quit smiling.

“It’s hard, and you just kind of have to mourn the person that you could have been,” Clark said. “I could have been a first-year vet student by August, and now I have to wait.”

Debbie Conner, her friend and former roommate, has enjoyed watching Clark’s confidence grow over the years.

“It was important for her to understand that there isn’t a linear pathway in life, because she felt like she had to do so many things by the book, and a lot of times it doesn’t work out that way,” Conner said, “because a lot of it is just trial and error.”

As a married pre-veterinarian student with a baby on the way, college classes being thrown into the mix can easily become stressful, but Conner has always found escape in the comedic relief of Clark’s chaos.

“One time she was coming back to the dorm, and I guess I don’t know if she fell up or down the stairs outside, but her knees were all scraped up,” Conner said. “Every time I see her, something happened to her, something weird.”

In addition to navigating freak accidents and handling the responsibilities of president for Purrs and Spurs, she has been preparing to kick the dust from under her feet and apply to pre-veterinarian school once again.

“College isn’t fun if it’s strictly about the studies. It’s fun because of the people you meet, the lifelong friendships you create, the people you’re going to talk to after you graduate,” Clark said. “That’s the important part and you can’t do any of that without kind of making mistakes and doing things that you might not do whenever you’re older.”

She has certainly made the most of her time here at Tarleton as a former Duck Camp TTM, Resident Leader and chemistry TA (teaching assistant). She often invites her peers to do the same.

“I love chemistry, I like the experimental aspect. I was definitely a very interesting lab student, because I wasn’t very like, ‘Everything has to be perfect,’” Clark said. “So I think that made it a lot easier for them to understand that you’re going to mess up, you’re going to make mistakes.”

When she’s not leading Purrs and Spurs meetings, planning events, teaching chemistry or giving underclassmen living on campus a shoulder to cry on, she’s probably hanging out with her friends.

While Clark had a very rich academic and social life, this has not prevented her from maintaining interesting hobbies in her spare time.

For example, she is a horror fanatic who loves reading scary books and movies. In fact, Clark enjoyed “The Silence of the Lambs” so much that she has a “death hand moth” tattoo from the film.

She also loves thrifting, whether she’s in solitude or with her brother and his girlfriend. This hobby quickly evolved into creative expression through her fashion choices.

“I started pinning my stuffed animals all over my clothes. And then everyone started noticing and they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s so crazy.’ And so it became a thrill of the hunt,” Clark said. “I was like, ‘Oh yes, now I have to go thrifting even more so I can find more little trinkets to wear around my clothes.’”

Kora’s witty sense of humor and chaotic positivity make her a lively fixture of the Tarleton campus. While she will be missed, this future veterinary tech is ready to step into the unknown and test the waters after graduation.