We had a great first meeting with the pre-vet club last night. It was our first of two interest meetings that we will be holding this week- one on Monday and one on Thursday. The premise of this is that while it sucks for the officers, we generally are able to reach a greater number of people than if we had just picked one day. It might not be the most practical thing... but it works. We had about 13 people come to this meeting, and from my correspondence with people, the larger meeting will be on Thursday. That is very exciting! Many of the students think they might want to be vets, but only about two actually one hundred percent knew- as expected their first year. We had some returning members come, and it was wonderful to see some people who hadn't really been involved in the club in the past come out and participate in the meetings.
This weekend we are headed out to a small horse rescue that is about 15 minutes away, and hopefully a lot of people will want to volunteer there- it is a great place, small and family owned, and I know that they could use the help. There are only 11 horses currently, and the owners and really nice people (I helped them bring in hay a couple weeks ago and got to know them a little better). I'm excited for that, and I hope the other students are as well.
After my incredibly awkward talk up in front of the group, I chatted with some of the new members who stayed around to meet other members. And I learned that the pre-health professions advising has been doing their usual misinformation... they apparently told all the potential pre-vetters that they MUST be Biology majors, and maintain a 4.0, or forget it. The students who had gone to that meeting were very confused, wanted clarification and some reassurance that that was not true. This has been a continual source of frustration over the past few years- I remember feeling extremely marginalized at that meeting and being extraordinarily confused. This, amongst some advising errors, is what led me to be a year "behind" in Chemistry, and thus some biology classes that require those chem classes. While the club does a bit of advising, this isn't enough. Not everyone who wants to be a vet chooses to be involved in the club, or has the opportunity to do so, and I understand this. But there is no one that knows about their profession in the school and can help... I have been working on this problem for over 6 months now, in conjunction with the provost's office, in order to find an advisor for pre-vet students. This way we would no longer be considered pre-health professionals advising students (which doesn't help us at all), but would officially be considered pre-vet, and have one person who actually knows what is going on to advise any students thinking of going into the field. Yesterday I finally found that person, and I am dearly hoping that he confirms with me and we can get the process started... He is very diplomatic, and has been an extremely helpful professor for me personally, though I have never had him for a class. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes smoothly, and that I will be able to help with this transition.
Marching Band practice was rained out so we ended up inside- this was not very productive and I was already exhausted from a long day... I really wanted to go home. And I eventually made it there and passed out surrounded by the fluffy denizens of my house.
~Melissa
PS Mt. Vesuvius is still growing... : /
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