My Pre-Veterinary Student Journey
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of pursuing a career in veterinary medicine. Growing up with no other pets than a few fish, I took advantage of every moment that involved surrounding myself with animals. Before entering college, I had minimal experience within the veterinary field and a surface level understanding of what the profession truly entailed. I confess: for quite some time, I believed that the road to becoming a veterinarian would be a smooth-sailing, furry-friend-cuddling, and CLEAN (you’ll know what I mean later) route. Well, I was wrong.
However, through my gained experiences and deeper understanding of this field, I have been significantly humbled. I now have mad respect for all veterinarians, pre-veterinary students, and individuals who support our furry, scaly, winged, and two- or four- footed friends. As a result, I will be sharing my journey as a pre-veterinary student during my college and post-college career.
One resource I heavily relied on at San Diego State University (SDSU) was the Health Professions Advising Office (HPAO). During my first one-on-one meeting with my peer mentor as a freshman, I was exposed to a handy dandy prerequisite checklist, a variety of helpful workshops, and most importantly, a pamphlet to the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association club (PVMA). Joining PVMA was one of the best decisions I made because the club allowed me to seek opportunities that expanded my animal care experiences.
However, I faced one roadblock: during my four years at SDSU, I was not able to become a fully active member of this club. One of the requirements to be an active member was to attend at least three weekend events each semester. As a full time student and a part-time employee, my weekends were not available. After dwelling in a space of discouragement, I was determined to find a way to make this work. I reached out to a few organizations that PVMA partnered with to volunteer on my own time. In addition, I reached out to several organizations in San Diego that promoted animal welfare and rehabilitation such as Sky Hunters, Free Flight, SoCal Parrot, and the Project Wildlife program at the San Diego Humane Society. The waiting game was difficult to undergo as I waited to be offered a volunteering position, and facing rejection was even harder. These small moments, however, shaped me to develop perseverance and to continue sending out applications.
Gaining diverse animal experience is strongly recommended for veterinary school applications. During my undergraduate career, I was able to volunteer at a wildlife raptor sanctuary, an exotic bird sanctuary, a parrot rehabilitation center, and a few farms throughout San Diego. I was also able to overcome my ophidiophobia (fear of snakes) by working closely with rattlesnakes in an ecology lab. Fun fact, my life flashed before my eyes when a rattlesnake that was supposed to be anesthetized during a surgery suddenly spazzed out right in front of my labmates and me.
Every volunteering shift consisted of memorable moments, including bottle feeding a baby goat and a parrot trying to climb onto my head. Yet, I believe the most important task of all these experiences was husbandry and cleaning. Animal husbandry involves tasks such as maintaining a clean environment for the animals, preparing meals, washing dishes, and doing laundry. It may easily be considered the least exciting task to fulfill — being covered in urine and poop is not ideal — but it truly humbled me to recognize its foundation in successful animal care. I’m guilty of having a history of internally complaining when asked to sweep up animal waste for two to four hours straight. Nowadays, I find myself in an awkward situation when I excitedly ask my friends to come wash down parrot and goat poop with me for fun.
The number one most important yet challenging segment I faced during my pre-veterinary journey was gaining clinical experience. In the beginning, this part was frustrating for me because not only was it required by the majority of veterinary programs, but also I faced an enormous amount of rejection.
During my junior year in college, I applied to many veterinary clinics with little to no experience, asking for a position as an intern, a volunteer, or an employee. I became very discouraged because I was either told that my lack of experience disqualified me from getting the position or I simply didn’t hear back. After discussing my options with my peer mentor (who is inspiring and awesome), she encouraged me to start from the bottom and apply for a kennel technician position. A few months later, I was able to land a job as a kennel tech at a local veterinary clinic where I worked in husbandry and minimal animal restraint for about two years.
After graduating from college in May 2020, I gained even more experience as I trained for both receptionist and veterinary assistant positions at another veterinary clinic. During these first few months of training, I developed the ability to work under pressure, learn in a fast paced environment, and practice excellent client communication. I became a full time veterinary assistant in August 2020. Entering the veterinary field with little to no experience has allowed me to face so much constructive criticism and self-discipline. There were days when I struggled to communicate with clients because I didn’t know the core vaccines for dogs and cats, days when I struggled to properly restrain an 80 pound dog, and days when I was told by a doctor that I would struggle in vet school. Yet, all these experiences shaped me with the necessary knowledge, growth and resilience to be the best applicant I can be for my future vet school.
Although my journey is far from being over and there is still so much left to learn, I am thankful for my experiences (the good and the bad) and all the people in my life who have supported me through it all. Every individual’s experience is different and unique, and I am continually encouraged and inspired by so many other pre-veterinary student’s stories. When I doubted my qualifications to pursue this profession, I reached out to my peer mentor who was already accepted into a veterinary program and together we reflected on the strength of my application progress. I also pinpointed my weaknesses and worked to improve in those areas, such as the time I woke up at 3:30 a.m. to study for organic chemistry and make flashcards for dog and cat vaccines. I've been on the verge of giving up this path countlessly, and I’ve discouraged myself to the extent of almost changing my major. In these times, all it took to keep moving forward was sitting down with some of my closest friends who helped me remember why I started in the beginning. I think back to the little girl that dreamed of working with and helping sick animals and every step that it took to get here was worth it.
