Roane State Community College

Kristina Kravchenko

Nov. 21, 2018

By Bob Fowler
Roane State staff writer

Kristina Kravchenko began her studies at Roane State Community College when she was 13.

Today, the Roane State alum is in her first year in the University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville. She's 19 and should receive her doctorate in veterinary medicine in four years. Then, she'll be Dr. Kravchenko.

She is also a black belt who teaches the Korean style of self-defense, Taekwondo. She started learning the martial art form shortly before she began her Roane State career. "I like helping others learn about something that I’m passionate about," Kravchenko said.

Kravchenko said she comes from a family that believes in education and in Roane State. Most of her six siblings attended the community college, she said.

That was an asset during her Roane State career, she recalled. "Most of my professors had one of my older siblings," she said. "That connection made some classes more enjoyable."

Roane State, Kravchenko said, was a "good introduction to college. I liked the small class size and there was more one-on-one interaction."

She readily admits that she was "a bit immature" when she started at Roane State. Her dad, a physicist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Ivan Kravchenko, drove her to and from the college's Oak Ridge campus on his way to work. Mother Oksana Kravchenko was in charge of home-schooling the Knoxville couple's seven children.

Kristina has fond memories of her Roane State experiences. She said the chemistry course taught by Professor Ron Sternfels was "an enjoyable class."

Professor Saeed Rahmanian's biology class was unforgettable, she said. "We got to go to Costa Rica, and that's definitely a good memory. We learned about native flora and fauna and visited a coffee plantation."

The adventures on that trip continued in next-door Nicaragua, where she and others helped build houses for those in need.

Kravchenko graduated with a bachelor's degree in animal science from UT's undergraduate school in May of 2017.

Her long-term plans after vet school haven't jelled yet, but she's leaning toward working with "food animals" - the cows and pigs that end up on dinner tables.