How'd we get here?

I feel most animal lovers at some point thought to themselves, I want to be a veterinarian. Most current doctors -the kind that fixes animals, and yes equally valid as a 'human doctor'- seem to dream of being a veterinarian since childhood. All very cliché and not true in my opinion- because we don't know what this all really entails (a later post). I grew up telling people I wanted to be a vegetarian until I figured out my dad was so upset at this dream because I was saying I wanted to give up meat, not hug animals all day. I mean that is all veterinarians do- right?

Me- dreaming of being a vegetarian

I grew up weird. I grew up nerdy. I grew up playing with animals when I should be playing with children... socializing with my grandparent's dogs instead of them. Everyone knew I was going to be a doctor and I still didn't know what this really meant. So I took the hard classes in high school and I did well. I was told I didn't have a chance by some, I ignored them. At the end of the day I was just going through the motions. I didn't know what veterinary medicine was... I job shadowed  for a clinic one day and walked into pure chaos. Look at these slides here, oh we have an emergency, look at these radiographs of puppies, an ultrasound, another cytology. Four hours of pure chaos... which in my experience should be used to define veterinary medicine. I fell in love with medicine that day. I no longer had a dream of being a doctor, I had a goal to be entirely surrounded by this chaos as much as possible. So I cried through calculus and got a job at an amazing clinic- at the time a six doctor mixed animal practice. 

Picture Break: Kitty Mrow and Me (2010)

So she met a boy... yeah. I made the mistake of 'just going to community college'. Mistake? Eh. I'm here aren't I? Point here: I lost my drive. But I worked at the clinic learning about alpacas, llamas, goats, cats, dogs and clinic dynamics. I also got a job working for a DVM on her goat dairy. I worked... a lot. And I went to school and got terrible grades and gave in. I was blessed to have a doctor that told me to move forward. I remember coming back in on a Saturday to clean and I found her doing charts. I don't think she knew my insides felt as if they had fallen into a deep hole inside of me. Defeated. I was never going to be a doctor. I was kidding myself. "If I can do it you can do it," she said. I did it, I applied to Oregon State to get an Animal Sciences degree with a Pre-Vet option. I left my home, my clinic and my goats. And I was going to be a doctor. 

Goats <3

More goats- because goats are amazing

College was not fun for me-this is the first time I've been genuinely happy in a very long time. I worked full time and went to school. Perks: I was lucky enough to get experience with shelter medicine working as paid staff for a no-kill, open-door shelter. I was even more blessed to be given the AMAZING opportunity to work at the Oregon State University Veterinary Hospital Surgery Unit- and yes, it is TOTALLY awesome. 

To the dreamers looking for advice(Undergrad): 

Take your time. You don't need to finish this degree as fast as possible. Go a pace that keeps you sane. A pace that shows you're driven but don't entirely sacrifice your sanity. You can get a degree in ANYTHING, do something you enjoy, learn something new, do undergrad research, find a degree that will get you a job if you change your mind on medicine. Most people I started with changed their minds on Pre-Vet post Ochem. It happens. Most importantly: Pre-Veterinary requirements are hard- veterinary school is HARD. 

Random Poopie

Lilly

My Chu (Not really mine, but he survived rat bait, kinda a big deal)

RICO LE FURRET

I spent last summer applying for veterinary school, working, taking hybrid physics and studying for my GRE. I accepted I wouldn't get in. I accepted I would apply this year, not get in and apply again next year. I was defeated again. The good: I was blessed with an amazing friend (who keeps me on track and made me fall in love with rats) and the first companion to call my own, Vinny the Rat. After many tears and panic attacks I submitted my application while preparing for an after-hours emergency pyometra surgery at the university. I was surrounded by technicians, students, residents and surgeons flying around the clinic. Prep the dog, prep the room, prep the surgeon, get the blood work, get the gowns. I submitted my application and I looked around me and knew I was still exactly where I wanted to be- even if I didn't get in. I would get here. I would always be a part of this chaos. 

Some Vinny appreciation

 January 16, 2014 I lost my sweet Vinny unexpectedly. If he made it two weeks more he would have been there to join me in my acceptance to Oregon State Veterinary School. 

Which was handled like any mature adult: Jumping around the house like an idiot singing, I'm going to be a doctor.