While I have plenty to write about on recent happenings, I wanted to do the Blog Topic of the Week first :)

This week's prompt: what career path/specialty are you pursuing, and how did you become interested in it?

If you read this blog even semi-regularly, you could probably write this post for me. In fact, you're probably scrambling to get away right this second - anything to avoid listening (reading?) to me ramble on about lab animal medicine again. But on the off chance you haven't read this blog, please, come in and listen to me ramble out lab animal medicine ;)

Like most pre-vet and vet students (and probably most veterinarians), I wanted to be a vet from the time I was old enough to recognize animals. When you're five (or three, or eighteen months, or just out of the womb as I'm sure some aspiring vets were when they came to love animals...), you don't really understand what being a vet means, you just understand that you get to touch animals and holy crap, there could be no better job. I started riding when I was about the same age, so for a long time, I wanted to be an equine vet. After spending a summer shadowing an equine ambulatory vet (preg check, lameness, preg check, lameness, lameness, pre-purchase exam!, preg check, etc. ad nauseum) I realized that maybe it wasn't as great as it seemed. But I soldiered on and spent time with a small animal vet which was marginally more exciting. Then I worked with dairy calves and pigs in our school's agriculture program and figured I'd be a food animal vet. When I got a job as an animal care technician at my undergrad's reserach facilities, it was just to get experience for my vet school application. And then I fell in love.

Multiple species to work with (exotics, large animals, companion animals, wildlife), new science going on every day, contributing to improvements in human and animal health, advocating for the health and welfare of the animals...the list of appeals is huge for me. I don't think I've ever looked back, and every time I do something lab animal related (class, ACC meeting, etc) I just fall more in love with it. I think I'm like that clingy girlfriend that never shuts up about her boyfriend and everyone gets tired of her real quick :)

Anyway, that's my answer. I'll be sure to post about my "spring break" but first, I need to study for an exam on Wednesday...