I Finally Did It!

After promising myself all Summer that I would try my darndest to get my small animal hours during the semester this year, I finally actually tried. There is a vet hospital that opened up about 2 or 3 years ago in the next town down (Littlestown). It is in the middle of my commute everyday, and I love the building. At the end of last semester I took the club there for a tour and to meet the vets, and I fell in love with the place. It's in a renovated barn from the 1800's, and has been outfitted with a couple small exam rooms, a huge wide room for the main work of the techs in the back,and beautiful office space for the two vets lined with windows and bookshelves, with glass walls peeking into the heart of the hospital. My favorite room when we visited was the surgery suite, which is wood-paneled with two huge bay windows looking out on farmland. For a surgery room, it is pretty sweet. They also do almost all procedures with lasers, which I also find intriguing. I have been ogling over the place for awhile, and both vets impressed me with the fervor they have for their profession. Plus, every room is outfitted with great artwork, and the place runs on solar power.

So today I put on a nice blouse, wrote a cover letter, printed out my resume and stopped by once classes were over. My heart was pounding, palms sweating. You would have thought I was going to be operated on instead of just dropping by to check out opportunities. I chatted with the receptionist (whose name was also Melissa) and explained why I was there. I was heartened when she heard I was from the college and asked if I had been on the tour... I got to nonchalantly drop that I had arranged the tour : P A little bragging is good when your trying to get an internship! My heart dropped when she said a little hesitantly that they only took one intern a semester... Her tone of voice had me ready to hand over my resume and hope for better luck next semester. But when I asked if they had one already, she brightly added that she didn't think so. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster.

So she headed to the back to find the vet on call, ushered me into a waiting room, then moved me into another room, said she was finding some paperwork for me to fill out, and I waited for the vet. About five agonizing minutes later, the vet stopped by my room and chatted with me. She remembered me, and was more than happy to have me come shadow. My schedule is flexible and set entirely by me and my work load/school schedule- exactly what I needed. I will be missing most surgeries, as they take place in the mornings and I don't get out of class until around noon every day- but I will still get to see a lot, and can come in if class is ever cancelled, or we are on breaks. The hospital is all of 10 minutes from my house.

I am still hoping to do a night at the emergency hospital in town, but I need to call again and pester someone....

Guess I will be picking up a pair of scrubs this week! The best part was, I realized when I got up to take my leave of the vet that she was wearing barefoot shoes. Definitely my kind of place.

~Melissa