I worked part-time at the veterinary clinic and got a part-time job as a Hill's Student Representative at a pet food company. Through this job, I made connections in the pet food industry, learned about nutrition and went on trips with veterinary students from other schools. I really loved this position. One summer, I also went to Nicaragua for a spay/neuter clinic with volunteers and learned surgical techniques on stray dogs/cats. Veterinary school is extremely difficult, but doing fun and unique trips like that helped make it more bearable.
EG: I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian since I was a young boy. Around the age of nine to ten, I lost my best friend, my dog Lily, to acute liver failure. I was very upset at the time, as most children are when they first experience loss like this. I have a very clear memory of telling myself that someday I wanted to be able to help sick animals and help people go through the loss of a pet so that fewer people would feel as horrible as I did losing Lily.
Throughout high school, I was always the most interested and engaged in topics regarding the scientific field, and though I was a fairly gifted student, I didn't apply myself to school as much as I certainly could have. Regardless, I was lucky enough to be accepted into an undergraduate program at the University of Minnesota in the CFANS (College of Food, Animal and Natural Resource Sciences), with an emphasis in pre-veterinary medicine and biotechnology. From there, I knew getting into veterinary medical school would be very competitive and difficult. Thousands of students apply to veterinary schools across the country each year, and only a small percentage are accepted.
