Trip To Deutschland

Oh boy, where do I even start. I guess I'll begin with the fact that I had never been out of the country. I had always felt a strong interest for Germany and the history behind it. When I heard about this opportunity to go with my classmates and learn about the profession I love, I had to take it! I had no idea what to expect, and was so excited. From the moment I arrived in that beautiful country I was instantly in love. (Even though it was the WORST weather ever) I love that this trip gave me the opportunity to travel to 6 amazing countries and experience so many different cultures. Visiting the different veterinary schools and interacting with the students in different countries was one of my favorite parts. They were all so accepting and it was nice to know that they shared the same struggles in Veterinary school as we did here in America. My absolute favorite part of our trip was our time in Leipzig at Burgfest (spelling). It was such a neat tradition, and I was so happy to be able to celebrate a milestone for these veterinary students. What a blast it was for them to invite us to be a part of such a fun week. Then there are all of the Zoos. Despite the rain the zoos were fantastic. I have never been so close to elephants, and that was a touching experience for me. Hmm...so many fun things. Busum!!!! What an amazing little town. Clean air, clean mud, and seals! Need I say more. Necropsy on a porpoise and seal and a walk in mud that is spa quality, Yep! Then there is Dr. Wasser, the walking encyclopedia. This man knows everything...and I mean everything! Hey. Dr. W, what's that bird, that turtle, that building? He would spit out answers left an right. The best tour guide of the trip! There are so many more things to talk about, the beautiful cathedrals, the history of Germany, and all the crazy stuff that happened, but I would have to write forever. To summarize, this was such an amazing experience. I learned so many different opportunities about the veterinary profession, I forged a great relationship with people I least expected, and I can't wait to go back abroad to seek other possibilities in my field.

Germany

This trip has been my third trip to Germany, but it was by far the most interesting. My first week back I was glad to be home, it was nice to see my family again and sleep in the same place for more than one night. However, once I got back into my routine I found myself being nostalgic about many aspects of the trip. I loved getting to know the vet students in Germany and Utrecht, especially finding out that even though the programs are vastly different the students are just like us. They have the same cares and worries that we do and enjoy many of the same things.

My favorite part of this trip was truly getting immersed in the culture. We weren't just there as tourists, we got to be part of Germany. The people are so friendly, they don't treat you like a tourist but more like a friend. The food was one of the best parts and I couldn't get enough of it.

All of the activities we were given the opportunity to do gave me such a new perspective on veterinary medicine and all the unique opportunities there are available to us. There is so much work involved "behind the scenes" at the zoos we visited, I have now even considered that could be a pretty cool job. Overall this trip was life-changing and well worth the money spent. If I had to make the choice all over again to go on this trip or not, I would make the same decision in a heartbeat.

Now that school is starting again next week, I suppose I should write my blog before life becomes super hectic again. Choosing to go on this study abroad trip was definitely one of the best decisions I've made, not only was it a great learning experience but I'm so happy I got the opportunity to get to know some of my classmates better. Since I've been back I've been finding myself being the irritating person that starts every other sentence with "Did you know that in Europe they..." or "Well while I was in Germany..." and talking about how I can't wait to go back. I'm so glad we got to stay with host students in Utrecht and Leipzig, I feel like that made it much more of an immersive cultural experience and I loved talking with my hosts about how going to veterinary school there differed from how school is here and how so much is still the same. I'm also glad we got to be there during Bergfest because we absolutely need to bring that over to America and it was interesting to talk to the different students every night. Having to ride a bicycle with my host and talking with people who couldn't believe I hadn't been on one in 10 years also inspired me to bring a bike up to ride to class... we'll see how that works out.

It's hard to think of anything that I didn't enjoy on our trip but there are a few things that stand out. First off, my favorite was getting to go up to Büsum and do the seal/whale necropsies. I did primate necropsies every couple days during my internship this summer and enjoyed bragging about how I got help with a whale necropsy in Germany. Another highlight was feeding the baby elephant at the zoo, that was a once and a life time experience. In fact, getting to see so much behind the scenes stuff at all of the different zoos was pretty amazing. Also, even though I'm not really a large animal person, getting to assist in cow surgery was really fun.

This trip opened my eyes up to so many different cultures and to how veterinary medicine works in Europe. Things I miss the most since being back in the US: the food, the weather under 100 degrees, the super easy access public transportation, the fact that dogs can pretty much go anywhere, following Nils's orange jacket, and MARTIN! He needs to come visit us immediately. Going on this trip was a great experience, I'm glad I had the opportunity to take part in it and I can't wait to go back!

Germany: Looking Back

So I'll be honest, the first year of vet school was a little rough for me. Trying to juggle several part time jobs with 18 and 21 hours of class definitely wasn't easy, and by the time summer rolled around I was immensely grateful for the intellectual break. But I still wanted to do something veterinary related to remind me of why I'm putting myself through all of this temporary misery. For me, the Germany summer program was the perfect way to do that - I got to mesh two of the things I love most: vet medicine and travel. I had never been out of The States prior to this trip, so I figured I would make the most of it while I could still afford to do so relatively cheaply.

The trip was a good toss up between each city's cultural highlights and the veterinary related things found within them. I'm a small animal person myself, so I wasn't as stoked that the majority of our activities were large animal oriented, but I would have to say that those experiences are probably what taught me the most on the trip. See, I've always had this notion that one day I would move overseas, practice veterinary medicine, and then live happily ever after. But the more the trip progressed, the more I realized that for the niche I want to fill in the field, I would have to stay put in The States.

I am very passionate about pursuing a specialty in small animal orthopedic surgery, and there just isn't a great demand for that type of service in Europe. Nothing wrong with that, it's just a completely different lifestyle. People love their pets, but at the end of the day their pets are still just animals to them; whereas in The US people treat their pets like they would their own children the majority of the time. In Europe, the field of veterinary medicine is still heavily rooted in large animals, as compared to The US where people don't bat an eyelash to spend thousands of dollars on their prized pets. I suppose I had always expected that people would feel the same way about their pets over there as they do here, but that's the thing about different places - they're not the same.

I'm grateful to every aspect of this trip for getting me outside of my bubble and helping me to realize the types of things I do and don't want to do within the field. And although I don't have a huge desire to become a zoo veterinarian, the zoos were probably the highlight of the trip for me. I love going to the zoo in general, but all of the zoos we toured in Europe were absolutely exquisite. The enclosures were extensive, and it was awesome to get to see so many animals per enclosure - especially when there are usually only 1 or 2 at most zoos.

I think this trip also taught me a lot about life too. Here at home, I pay for everything with a card and don't really give too much thought to my expenditures because to me, the credit card is like pretend money. In Europe, I had to learn to be more accountable and responsible for making my money stretch for the time that I needed it to. Being in Europe taught me to take time for the little things, like just being quiet and enjoying a cup of coffee in the mornings - to make more time for myself even when things are really busy and stressful.

Overall, this trip was a very meaningful experience for me. It was a non-traditional learning experience that I'll never forget. It was a fantastic way to remind myself of my ultimate goals in life in a way that was both educational and exciting.