Jo D.

Before the degree, there was a kid in San Francisco who really loved animals. Now he’s building a career dedicated to making veterinary care accessible to everyone.

Jo D. never needed a sibling. He had animals.

Growing up as an only child, animals were his companions, his curiosity, and eventually his calling. It wasn’t just about being around them. It was about understanding them. How to care for them. How to support species far beyond the usual dogs and cats. Reptiles, zoo animals, the ones most people never think twice about.

Today, his household reflects that lifelong devotion: a Great Pyrenees, five cats, a bearded dragon, a turtle, two senior rabbits, parakeets, and fish. He meal preps food for all of them, supplements included, even though he admits he doesn’t do the same for himself.

“They eat better than I do,” he laughs. “I don’t meal prep for myself. Only for them.”

But caring for animals became more than a hobby. Jo enrolled in vet tech school and, at the same time, went looking for a degree program that went deeper than a general animal science credential. He wanted something with a real emphasis. Nutrition, training, behavior. Not just a broad overview.
He found it at Unity.

“When I found Unity, not only was it going to be online, which was helpful while attending vet tech school and working at the same time, but there was an emphasis in nutrition, training, and behavior,” he says. “I looked at a lot of different schools, and I felt like Unity fit. Not only the emphasis, but the convenience. And I could see it was going to challenge me.”

That last part turned out to be an understatement.

Jo went in expecting online school to require self-discipline. What he didn’t expect was a laboratory kit showing up at his door. When it arrived, something clicked.
“I realized it was the real deal,” he says. “There was so much to do inside that kit. We got to record ourselves doing it in real time, not just clicking through something. That was really special.”

The discussion boards surprised him too. Each course opened with them, giving Jo a window into classmates from across the country and around the world. Different ages, different backgrounds, all drawn together by the same curiosity. He watched people’s thinking evolve over the term. He challenged their ideas. They challenged his.

“I thought I knew a lot about certain topics, but someone would open a door I hadn’t considered,” he says. “That feedback strengthened my knowledge and changed the way I approached projects.”

Professors kept pace with that support. Quick email responses, drop-in hours, resource lists, and advisors who followed up to make sure deadlines didn’t slip. For Jo, balancing vet tech school, work, and a degree program simultaneously, that infrastructure mattered.

It also shaped where he’s headed. An anatomy class at Unity sparked something unexpected, a fascination with the body’s mechanics that is now steering his career. Jo is working toward passing his registered veterinary technician exam and plans to move directly into specialty practice, focusing on anatomy and canine rehabilitation.

His larger goal is one he carries with genuine urgency: making veterinary care accessible to everyone, regardless of income.

“Having access to veterinary care, no matter what someone can or can’t afford, is really important to me,” he says. “I would really like to expand that out.”

For Jo, that vision is practical, not abstract. Through holistic care, canine rehabilitation, and nutrition, he believes there is far more pet owners can do at home than most people realize — strengthening a senior dog’s body through simple exercises, adjusting diet, adding the right supplements. The information exists. It just isn’t reaching enough people.

“There is so much information out there that needs to be said,” he says. “Let food be thy medicine. That’s a really big thing.”

Getting there, in his view, starts small. A conversation at a store. A short clip shared online. A moment where someone learns something they didn’t know before — and passes it on.

“Knowledge is power. You share it in any way you can,” he says. “And you learn a lot in turn. There are things other people know about nutrition that are even more than I do, and that’s all knowledge we can share with everyone.”

For Jo, Unity modeled exactly that philosophy. Knowledge made accessible, to anyone willing to put in the work.

“As long as you have the will and the effort to want to learn, it’ll be there,” he says. “They’ll give you everything you need — and if you do the work, you will be supported through it.”

To anyone hesitant about taking the leap, he has one piece of advice: don’t let a timeline that isn’t yours hold you back.

“Don’t let any societal standard or timeline get to you. We all have our own. Your story is going to inspire someone, whether you know it or not.”

He’s 24 years old. And he’s just getting started.

The dream you set aside does not disappear. It waits. Explore Unity’s flexible online programs and discover what’s possible at any stage of life.