Aak! It’s finally
starting! I just want to run and hide
under my bed! I’ve figured out during
the course of my life that I don’t deal well with big changes. At least, I dread them until they’ve finally
happened and then I’m okay with it. I
remember going to class the first day of my freshman year of college, and just
wanting to go back to my high school and try my best to blend in for another
few years instead. Can you imagine
someone actually wanting to go BACK to high school?? Well, that’s how I feel now. I’d like to continue on for a few extra years
in undergrad, and somehow convince all of my friends to do the same so nothing
changes and everything stays awesome. Luckily
my fears about going into college turned out to be completely unnecessary, and
I’m sure that vet school will be the same.
I’m hoping to meet some fantastic people and maybe even make friends
with a few of them, too. I’m hoping the
workload isn’t going to be as taxing as I’m dreading it will be, and if it is (and
it probably will be), I’m hoping I’m up for the task. I’ve busted my ass over the years to get
where I am today, so if I have to work even harder for a few more years I’m
sure it can be done.
I’m going to write this so I can come back and look at it
when I’m in the thick of school, probably on the verge of a mental
breakdown: why I’m going to vet school
and what I’m hoping to accomplish. I
want to make a difference. I’ve
volunteered for years with vets, zoos, and all sorts of species. I’ve traveled across the world to pick up elephant
poop (though I did that at the zoo, too).
I’ve seen first-hand the challenges that come with raising animals, both
at home and in a zoo exhibit. And I want to help. At the zoo, when I interned with the Large
Mammal keepers, I was privileged (though some may not see it that way) to
participate many times in collecting semen from the zoo’s bull Asian elephant
Sneezy: one of the most eligible bachelor elephants in North America. Through that I was able to learn about the difficulties
in breeding elephants in captivity: the high cost of transporting and even
maintaining elephants, the lack of a matriarchal herd of elephants in many
zoos, fertility problems, high infant mortality, the still relatively low
success rate of artificial insemination in Asian elephants, and a low gene pool
that coincides with declining elephant numbers in North American zoos. There are many big hurdles that face Asian
elephants, and I would love to specialize in theriogenology (animal
reproduction) to help solve those problems while, at the same time, continuing to make zoos
more elephant and other animal-friendly. Of course I don’t
want to limit my expertise to elephants, but wouldn’t it be cool to be an
expert in elephant reproduction? I think
that sounds so awesome!
Speaking of all of this, I want to get in contact with the
Oregon Zoo in Portland soon. They have a
very well-established elephant breeding program, and I would love to be
involved with that and possibly shadow their vet. Don’t get me wrong, going into zoo medicine
is a VERY competitive field. But if I don’t
end up doing any of this, I know whatever I end up doing will still involve me making
a positive impact on the future of animals and conservation in some way or
another!
Anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow! But even more so, wish me luck for next
Monday, because that’s when all of the REAL work begins!
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