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.
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