Before

I'm on my way to becoming a senior in high school. Wow. I never thought the day would come. Along with its glory, this also means it's time to crack down and decide what type of project I'm going to spend 200+ hours on over the course of the next year. I choose to intern at a veterinary clinic.

Being a vet has not always been a top option for me, and honestly, there are still many other options I'm considering. If anything, I figure this project will be a good trail run to see if I like it or not. My veterinary interest was ignited by the death of by dog and best friend Sunny, who died (a year ago today actually) of Kushing's disease. I was devastated. I still am. And to make matters worse, not even a year later, my other, less-friendly but still love-able dog Jack died of Addison's disease. With my house empty of dogs, of my two best friends, I had never felt so lonely in my life. It was horrible. On Sunny and Jack's behalf, I swore to do my best to help and save other people's pets, so they (meaning the owner AND the pet) would not suffer.

Working at a vet clinic for my project seemed like a great idea, but I didn't know where I could do it, or if I were even allowed. I had almost lost hope when one day Mrs. Logsdon, a well-known woman in our community, came to talk to my class about possible projects and connections she has that could lead us to a mentor. Her presentation was mostly focused on environmentalism, however she vaguely mentioned that she knew Dr. Hayes at Locust Trace Veterinary Clinic. I was so excited. I emailed her about him right there from my seat in english.

Mrs. Logsdon was a huge help in connecting me to my mentor. She set up and accompanied me to a meeting with Dr. Hayes to discuss my project, which he accepted, and had the school administration eventually (they didn't like it too much since I didn't go to their school). I went back several weeks later to fill out some forms with him, and he told me I would start interning on June 3. And so I went and bought my scrubs and farm boots and showed up at 8:30am on June 3.