Goals
Internship Goals
I want to utilize this internship to better understand my career path by making a connection with a veterinarian who is willing to share their experiences with me. This can be achieved by meeting multiple veterinarians at LARC who specialize in different sectors of laboratory animal medicine. I will also strengthen my connection with Dr. Johnston and Beth Skiles through research project development with them.
This internship will allow me to grow my communication skills when talking with professionals. Activities that will help me are presenting in laboratory meetings and completing an animal welfare project.
I also hope to earn Honor's College Credit through this internship. I have taken less credit hours so I would have adequate time to devote to this internship and want to earn credit for it so veterinary schools can see I was still working hard this semester. This has been done by applying for credit and then at the end of the semester I will complete a reflection on the experience.
Career Goals - Small Animal Veterinary Medicine
My future career goal is to become a companion animal veterinarian, and eventually a veterinary surgeon who specializes in reproductive procedures. I want to positively impact my community through caring for animals. I am a strong science student and an animal lover, and a veterinarian puts those strengths together. I am sure of this career choice because of the various shadowing opportunities I've had and my job as a small animal veterinary assistant. I have learned of the challenges veterinarians face and how competitive veterinary school is to gain acceptance, but I feel passionately about pursuing it.
To reach this career goal I hope to continue exploring veterinary medicine. I see myself doing this through an internship at the zoo or at FACE low-cost animal clinic over the summer. The internship at the zoo would be beneficial to get out of my comfort zone an explore an area I'm unfamiliar with, while FACE would be a good opportunity to reaffirm if small animal reproductive services is my niche. I am going to reach out to both and try to find the best fit for me. I don't think the research project will be done at LARC by the time my LHSI internship is done, and I have to communicate with my site to see if they would want me to continue working with them over the summer. I now feel confident in my preferences about making career related decisions while also being willing to explore areas I haven't been exposed to yet.
This summer I'm working at a companion animal veterinary clinic while also volunteering with FACE. These opportunities will be great for growing my veterinary experiences.
Internship Goal Evaluation
Goals become valuable when you reflect on your progress towards them. When applying to LHSI I was asked various questions on what I hope to gain from this internship. My responses included I hope to practice prioritization as a time management tool. I started the semester strong with making sure I prioritized my internship, but let it slack towards the end. That was partially due to coming to a stopping point in my project and I did not ask for other work. I will make sure to keep a better line of communication with my supervisors and ask for more work when I need it. I explained my goal of going to veterinary school after graduation. This is still a goal I'm striving towards, and this internship is a great step in that direction. "Specific laboratory techniques such as behavioral testing, DNA analysis, and animal training experience are directly transferable to my future career." I have practiced blood collection in mice that is used as a behavioral test and my research project directly relates to animal training experiences. This internship has already given me the practical skills I was looking to gain, and I'm excited to use them to complete a research project. "Learning how laboratory animal caretakers focus on ensuring the health of rodents and amphibians will support my decision in finding my niche in animal care." This opportunity has been great exposure to mice but has reaffirmed my hope of working in small animal medicine. I understood veterinary schools expect engagement beyond animal related opportunities and that fostered my interest in campus opportunities. I was excited to get involved as the service chairwoman of my sorority and this semester I was able to plan a lot of fun events. We volunteered at Second Helping's hunger relief kitchen and the Hope Center. I am hoping to gain a weekly animal related volunteer opportunity next semester.