What can we help you find?

Making Tough Decisions

Spring semester is a time for new beginnings and new chapters. As a senior undergraduate, this is the time to make plans for the future.

Over winter break, I made it a personal goal of mine to map out “what ifs” for my future.

I have decided to take a gap year before applying to veterinary school. My parents and quite a few people I know were disappointed to hear that I did not apply for veterinary school last summer; however, I felt relieved.

Mentally, I do not feel prepared for the rigor of vet school, yet. After working as an ambassador for almost three years, I have been given an amazing opportunity to work closely with veterinary students, veterinarians, and faculty members.

From hearing the students’ personal stories on how they got to veterinary school, whether it was applying early, on time, or taking a gap year or more, I made a decision for myself to wait at least one year before applying.

In the meantime, my “what ifs” consist of working full time at a vet clinic, taking online classes to bring up my GPA, doing a non-thesis masters, and/or graduate research.

The future is so unknown and so far from “tomorrow” that it is hard to know where I will be and what I will be doing prior to vet school. I still intend with 100 percent confidence to apply to vet school, but it will now be a matter of “when.”

By looking forward to the future, I also had time to reflect on my past to get me where I am today.

My college career has been full of laughter, tears, and passion. I started off my freshman year in six student organizations, whereas now I’m in four student organizations and working two jobs.

I have gone from a general member of Patriot Paws of Aggieland to president of the organization, continuing to serve in the training of service dogs for veterans in need.

I am a student worker in equine research, and I have gone from living in a dorm to living in a house off campus.

I also am in a serious relationship of over three years, and I own a dog now.

Reflecting on where I started my college career, loving where I am today, and anticipating the future ahead, I can say that despite the tears, stress, and mental breakdowns, I do not regret who I have become.

College has both challenged and changed me, for better or for worse.

What I know now is that this semester is my final spring as an undergraduate, and I couldn’t be prouder about it.

Reflections of a 3/8th-‘Dog-tor’

Amanda and Evie, over the break

Last weekend I was able to help with Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) interviews for the Class of 2024, and it was amazing to be a part of the process.

Looking at all of the nervous applicants, I was reminded of how I was in their same position just a year and a half ago. 

I remember planning to arrive four hours early so I could attend a tour before my interview time and the first time I walked into the beautiful Veterinary & Biomedical Education Complex (VBEC), where I would eventually get to spend the next four years (or three, if I don’t include my clinical year), and getting the chance to walk through the lecture and lab

Amanda and her mentor group on their last day of DVM orientation

rooms as other veterinary students explained where things were and how amazing their vet school experience had been.

But this time, I was that excited veterinary student telling the future generations all about how the desks in our lecture halls have outlets at every seat and how every single professor cares about every student and wants them to become the best veterinarian that they can be.

Reflecting on how far I’ve come also allows me to see who has supported me through the whole process.

They say that caring for a veterinary student takes a village and I never realized how true that was until I saw all of the family and friends who came to College Station to support their loved one during this year’s interview process.

Amanda and friends after their last final of their first year

I’ve been lucky that my family and friends from other walks of life have stood by me during the past year and a half, and I’m also lucky that I’ve found such great friends here at the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM).

Amanda and her twin sister, Lauren, in their first pair of scrubs (her sister is currently in her second year of medical school)

You can only talk about intestinal parasites and how they remind you of certain types of noodles so many times before you’re automatically bonded for life with someone!

My friends like to say that I’m too much of an optimist at times, but comparing where I am now to where I was during the interview process makes me disagree.

It’s hard not to be a big believer that everything will be all right when you can see your personal growth so clearly, especially when you’re only 5/8ths away from becoming a “dog-tor!”