The one thing that really tugs at my heart is caring for animals. Unlike us, animals can’t simply tell us what’s hurting or that they simply ate something that they shouldn’t have. Most animals, especially ones with prey instinct, hide their symptoms so a majority of the time owners don’t know when their pets are injured or sick until it is to late. Helping animals has always been such an important thing to me. Ever since my family and I got our first dog I always went with my parents to take him to the veterinary office, even if it was to drop him off for boarding while we went on vacation and couldn’t take him with.
While growing up, I basically only watched Animal Planet. The veterinary shows, the animal rescue shows, anything like that had my full attention and still does. I often find myself searching YouTube for different veterinary surgical videos in my spare time. When I was younger, I loved getting the kid friendly veterinary kits and pretending to preform surgeries on my stuffed animals or on my actual dog for as long as he tolerated it. For as long as I can remember; my family, friends and neighbors came to me to with questions and if they needed any help with their pets. Throughout high school I volunteered at a local animal shelter in the dog area. I mostly worked with administering medications to the dogs that needed them and giving each dog their food. My first real job is a bittersweet memory for me, it consisted of me working long hours alone with multiple “yards” that were filled with dogs out in Amelia County. It was pretty much a kennel or boarding company that was ran through someone’s house, I think I lasted a little over a month before I quit because it was such an awful place to be for any human or dog.
1
I’ve had most kinds of animals growing up: from dogs, fish (both freshwater and saltwater), hermit crabs, frogs, bunnies, a guinea pig, a gecko, and a cat. As the years went on, we lost multiple pets, released the frogs back to the wild (since they grew from tadpoles I had found in a stream in our backyard). It wasn’t until my junior year of high school that I was able to take a veterinary science class at my county’s technical center. This program really opened my eyes to the veterinary world. I learned so much about different breeds of dogs, cats, chickens and cows. I honestly love seeing a random chicken and being able to identify what breed of chicken it is when I’m with my family, they think it’s the funniest thing. I use to think I would always just work with dogs and cats when I get older, but now I am torn between working with common household pets like that, or more on the exotic side, possibly working as a veterinary in a zoo or out in sanctuaries.
This sort of thing has become such an important part of my life, not only because it’s what I’ve always wanted to do since I was little, but because I’m just so passionate and growing up I always admired the veterinary staff that would help my family and the others that would come into the clinic with their pets. I want to be able to help a child’s beloved pet and help them understand why their best friend wasn’t the same and is now better. Sure, I have thought of taking it a step further and becoming a doctor, but there are so many fields that I wouldn’t be able to choose just one, plus I do so much better working with animals than people. Anytime I see a surgical show for humans, that’s when I get nauseas, but when I see it for animals, I’m so intrigued and just captivated by what the veterinarians are doing. I hope to stay on the path to veterinary school and one day become a veterinarian and inspire children like me.
2