At age 8, Basia Reed already had a clear picture of her future. She developed a love of animals while growing up with her family’s pets – which included cats, one dog and two ferrets – and she wanted to dedicate herself to improving the lives of people’s pets.

“In fourth grade, my teacher knew I wanted to be a veterinarian, so she gave me a home veterinary book for cats,” she said. “It was pretty thick with lots of information, but I read the whole thing cover to cover.”

As a senior at Glenbard East High School, Reed heard about the Scholars Award program at College of DuPage through Glenbard’s financial aid counselor. She knew her outstanding academic record gave her a strong chance at being selected for the full-ride Presidential Scholarship. More importantly, Reed realized the value of attending College of DuPage and how it could fit into her career goals.

College of DuPage provided a high quality education, and people are there because they want to be.

Basia Reed

“I want to be a veterinarian, and I knew it would take eight years of college,” she said. “My parents knew that I had a lot of college ahead of me, so we had to save money. By coming to COD, I could complete all of my gen ed requirements and then transfer to my next school debt-free.”

After earning her Associate in Science degree, Reed transferred to North Central College and received her Bachelor of Science in Biology degree, graduating summa cum laude. She also made the dean’s list every term and maintained a 3.99 GPA.

Reed was accepted into three veterinary programs and chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she achieved straight “A’s.” She also earned membership into Phi Zeta, the veterinary honor society.

After graduating in 2024, she finally fulfilled her lifelong goal and is now a general practitioner veterinarian at Carol Stream Animal Hospital. She sees cats and dogs as well as exotic companion animals, including rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, lizards, snakes and birds such as parrots.

She said coming to COD definitely made the next steps easier. 

“College of DuPage provided a high quality education, and people are there because they want to be,” Reed said. “I learned how college classes work, so I didn’t make any scheduling or class mistakes. I learned how to do the whole college thing, and I did it at COD. I’m saving money in the long run, and I was really impressed with COD.”