By Nancy Acton Born to make a difference.

That's the philosophy which motivates trainee Government Veterinary Officer Dr. Susann Olivia Smith.

Never mind the stereotypes associated with women professionals. Forget the glass ceilings and racial pigeon-holes. As the Island's first black, Bermudian female veterinarian, Dr. Smith is already off to a solid start and fully intends to see her dreams come true.

One could be misled by her quiet, reserved exterior but that would be a mistake. Gain her confidence, dig deeper, and you will find the same firm determination to make a success of her career which led her into it in the first place.

"Many people have said to me, `You must be very smart, it's very difficult and competitive to gain a place in veterinary school,' but I always tell them: `I was smart enough to persevere','' she relates.

Nor will she take all of the credit for her achievements to date.

"I am where I am today because of God's grace, plain and simple,'' she insists. "I know my life thus far is God's doing because, when I consider having failed several courses at Bermuda College, only applying to two overseas universities and being rejected by one of them, I get the feeling that I am part of some major plan.'' Indeed, the path to gaining her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree was neither direct nor smooth.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Smith of Devonshire, young Susann attended West Pembroke Primary School, the Berkeley Institute, where she gained nine GCE `O' levels and graduated with honours, and the Bermuda College.

Throughout her formative years, Dr. Smith credits her teachers, parents, relatives and friends with contributing significantly to what she is today.

"I am a product of them all,'' she says. "Hence, a language, culture and a people (Bermudian) have all been imprinted on my life.'' Similarly, there are disparate factors which ultimately influenced her career choice -- Lassie the film star dog among them.

"From the time I was eight-years-old and learned what a veterinarian was, I wanted to be one,'' Dr. Smith recounted. "I can remember watching an episode of Lassie, where every time they played a few bars of `Greensleeves' (the show's theme song), I would burst into tears because it always reminded me of Lassie being in danger in the wild with no-one to help her. I always wanted to help her.

"I asked my Aunt Claudette what people who wanted to help animals were called, and she said, `A veterinarian'. `That's what I'll be','' I said.'' Like all children, however, Susann changed her mind "several times'' while growing up, and eventually joined the Bermuda Police junior cadet scheme with the idea of becoming a Policewoman.

"My numbers had been assigned and I was ready for training school when confirmation of my acceptance by Tuskegee University arrived,'' Dr. Smith said.

Volunteer work with local veterinarian Dr. Maureen Ware Cieters while a Police junior cadet gave the aspiring professional valuable insight into just what it took to be a successful female veterinarian -- extra hard work -- but she was undeterred.

Weighing her options, Susann Smith decided she wanted to get a degree before settling into marriage and motherhood. She also took note of the fact that upward mobility for women in the Bermuda Police Force "was not that great, and still isn't''.

Besides, there was a "score'' to settle with a negative Bermuda College teacher who suggested Tuskegee wasn't much of an institution.

"It was a low blow to my self-esteem and I decided to prove him wrong,'' Dr.

Smith remembers.

And just maybe it was also to prove something to her father who, like her grandfather, handled horses, but would never let his daughter do the same.

"I guess he was afraid I would get hurt,'' Dr. Smith smiles. "Sometimes I think I went to veterinary school to prove to him that I could handle his horses!'' Whatever her reasons, the determined young Bermudian flourished at Tuskegee University in Alabama, and looks back on those years with affection.

"Tuskegee was one of a kind -- the only historically black institution which has a school of veterinary medicine, from which over 85 percent of black American veterinarians have graduated,'' she said. "Bermuda's two other black veterinarians, Drs. Derek Norfolk and Jonathan Nisbett, both of whom live abroad, preceded me and inspired me to attend.'' As a young black woman, Susann felt particularly at home there.

"Nothing can beat a black college experience,'' she said. "It boosted my self-esteem, and instilled in me the belief that I can achieve in spite of my colour, creed, ethnic origin, sex or nationality.

"I received an enriching historical experience and an education steeped in negro culture in the heart of the southern US.'' But don't get the wrong idea -- Dr. Smith is not a racist. Nor does she beat a racial drum. Rather, she has learned to rejoice in what she is and work to make a difference for all mankind.

"My parents reared me believing that I was no different than anyone else, that there was harmony and equality among races in Bermuda,'' she explained.

"But in the period between leaving high school and going to Tuskegee I was disillusioned. I was different, Bermuda was different. Tuskegee taught me to accept this difference and make it work to change the world in which I live for all people, regardless of their colour or creed.'' It is a lesson she fully intends to practice for as long as she lives.

Returning to the Island after more than a decade of studies abroad, including a Master of Science degree in tropical animal production and health from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Dr. Smith is now a trainee Government Veterinary Officer, working alongside the present incumbent, Dr. Neil Burnie, whose position she expects to fill.

The post fits perfectly with her professional preference -- working with big farm animals -- and hopefully will allow her to achieve her various long-term goals.

Dr. Smith's duties include preventive measures to stop animal diseases arriving in Bermuda; testing dairy cattle for disease; assisting dairymen to improve their record keeping and herd breeding through artificial insemination, and improving the local milk market.

Licensing horse stables; monitoring the import and export of animals; dealing with cases of animal cruelty; liaising with private veterinarians; and enforcing various Government acts related to animals, endangered species and soil erosion are some of the many other duties the Government veterinarians deal with.

In addition, Dr. Smith aims to focus on other matters which concern her -- and make a difference, of course.

"I am determined to maintain and recapture some of our agricultural heritage,'' she vows. "If Bermuda continues at the rate she is going, we will only have a Department of Parks -- no more Agriculture and Fisheries.

"I want to pass on a basic love for nature and (help) redevelop the concept of providing for ourselves from what has been entrusted to us by God.'' To that end, she has developed a "task force'' at the Prison Farm, which raises chickens and bees, among other projects.

"Historically, the Prison Farm has functioned as a self-sustaining unit, with inmates consuming what they raised. With the support of Prison Fellowship (of which I am a member), the Prison Department gave me permission to work with rearing chickens and bees there,'' Dr. Smith related.

A "giant coop'' constructed by prisoners now houses some 400 fowl -- most of them rounded up from Bermuda's prolific wild population.

"We have attempted to harness this food source and in so doing abate the nuisance factor (crowing and digging up gardens) wild chickens are creating for a host of residents,'' Dr. Smith explained.

Maintaining that the free-range chickens are fully edible, the veterinarian is still working to convince the powers-that-be that this economical, abundant food source should not be wasted.

Dreams of becoming a vet come true "It is a very labour intensive project, and until we have full support we won't be able to develop it to its fullest potential,'' she explained. "At present the project is privately funded by an exempt company.'' Meanwhile, vice-president Mr. Ronnie Lopes and other members of the Bermuda Poultry Fanciers' Society (BPFS) have visited the farm, demonstrating how to handle, care for, and assess the finer points of keeping pedigree show birds.

"Our ultimate aim is to win top places in the BPFS shows and Agricultural exhibitions,'' Dr. Smith said.

As for raising bees, the veterinarian said this project was chosen because honey "is the only export item that Bermuda produces''.

"In 1993 alone, $183,995 (wholesale) was realised from honey,'' she noted.

"I felt it best that the men develop an interest in producing Bermuda's only export item.'' Volunteer Mr. Randolph Furbert has been helping with the bee husbandry project, and there are currently four hives at the Prison Farm.

An agricultural education programme in schools is another of Dr. Smith's eventual goals.

"We are one of the only countries in the world not to have this,'' she said.

"I want to develop educational programmes for our education system. Each school could have a garden and some farm animals to tend to.

"It would also be nice to have an agricultural and aquacultural teaching division at the Bermuda College.'' When she's not working, Dr. Susann Smith is active in many spheres -- the American Veterinary Medical Association, World Women's Veterinary Association, Prison Fellowship Bermuda, the Business & Professional Women's Association, the Mid-Atlantic Boat and Sports Club, the Dog Training Club of Bermuda, the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine and the Caribbean Aquaculture Association among them.

She is a Sunday School teacher at Elim Central Pentecostal Church, and lists choral singing, piano and trumpet playing, and scuba diving among her hobbies.

Hang gliding, skiing, flying, and modern jazz dancing are among the challenges she hopes to conquer.

MOOV-ING MOMENT -- Trainee Government Veterinary Officer Dr. Susann Smith checks the health of a baby calf. She particularly enjoys working with farm animals, though her duties are extensive and wide-ranging.