Apr. 14th, 2006

amalthya: (science)
Well, if there's one thing that living in Congo and working at the Sanctuary did, it was instill in me a real thirst for hands-on work with animals.

So, without further ado, after I complete Columbia (starting this fall) I'm going to be applying to vet schools. It's been somewhat discomforting because the people I've told have been sort of skeptical/incredulous, but really, once I thought about it, it made me really happy.

Yea, so I haven't done a whole lot of science of late, but I think I'd make a good veterinarian. I already love the anatomy stuff, and I loved biology when I was at Chapin. I used to constantly gross out my dad by going over, in detail, the processes of digestion as he ate.

And everyone knows I love bones and anatomy too.

My one fear is that, in my last years at Columbia, I'll have to rush to finish the science requirements. Which include .., *drumbeats of doom* ... Chemistry. Now, Chemistry is the one class at Chapin I nearly failed. Mind you, I was in the midst of a teenage Angst Crisis and barely doing my homework or paying attention in class, but eek.

Double eek.

I feel like I've gotten so disenchanted with non-profit work. When I was back in DC I met with a big-man at JGI-Africa Field Programs who gave me a stern "talking to" about how the staff of the Goma office shouldn't be assisting with anything for the Chateau Chimpanzee. I managed to contain my rage, but to sit with someone and discuss those chimps, my chimps, with anything except love, reverence and care was so ... sickening?

Of course, I was disenchanted long before that, but I just feel like my goals can be accomplished best with hands-on work. What's more, I can help anywhere in the world. I can volunteer vet services anyplace.

Yes, I know that vet school is hard, and that it's difficult to get into, which is why I'm starting to plan now. I'm thinking that my two top choices would be UPenn and the VA-MD Regional Program which is tied into UMD.

I'll have to take the GRE's, which is somehow terrifying, but I think I could start studying soon.

I think too that my old professor Jill at Columbia can get me some sort of cool internship at the Bronx Zoo for my veterinary experience requirement. She's the one who hooked up my gig at the Natural History Museum.

I'm nervous and excited and finally feel like I have a direction, and a sense of purpose. I always wondered about being a veterinarian but didn't think I could handle animal trauma or euthanasia. But after Tate, I can't imagine it being worse.

Anyway, positive comments are encouraged. I'm at a stage in life where I feel like I could accomplish pretty much anything if I put my mind to it. I had a dream last night about dinosaurs, and a lot of you were in it, and not only did I survive but I managed to pick up really heavy people and carry them to safety, defying physics entirely.

I just hope that my grades/stats can live up to my own expectations right now :)

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amalthya

November 2009

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