This semester has been a little rough so far. Getting back into the swing of things has just taken it's time I suppose. I have mainly been getting B's on assignments, and the few A's have been scrapes. This Friday is my first biochemistry exam, and I am studying every way I know how, and a few ways that I have never tried before. It's never too late to learn better methods!
I have a presentation today, and I also have a seminar to attend. Then I get to get back to working on my endless piles of homework and reading. There literally are not enough hours in the day to do it all. I am in class from 9-5 on M/W and 1-4 on T/Th, with my Fridays being the shortest days, only having two classes. But then I have a 2 hr chunk of time for research, so really it equals the same thing. This is, really, the best prep for vet school I could ever ask for (if I get in!). Talk about time management skills...
We have the first real trip with the pre-vet club this Friday, and I'm getting disheartened already this semester. The first meeting, a wet lab to set up our Dermestid colony, had two officers come to it, my best friend and one first year. No returning members, not even all of the officers. The upcoming trip is to the farm that I work at, where we will be teaching them how to handle sheep, poultry, and piglets, and giving an intro to all the animals on the farm. There will even be a piglet castration demo. But so far only 3 people signed up, two of them being first years. I am happy that even 3 people will go though, and will be benefited (hopefully) by what they learn.
All of the events this year I conferred with the other officers about before scheduling, and received enthusiastic input about them being good ideas. The end of year survey to all club members (filled out by almost 20 people in the club) last year showed that everyone was satisfied with the events and meetings and felt that they had helped them to figure out a career or enhanced their knowledge of the profession. Last year we had a really good core group who came to meetings and trips; about 10 people or so. This year even the other officers don't seem to want to go to things. I advertise via our email and our facebook group, always emphasizing that getting experience in different fields is good even if someone is only interested in small animal medicine.
I know I have wrote about this before, but it seems to be a continual problem here...
Do any of you reading this have any ideas? Are you part of a similar club, or do you know how to get people motivated? I think I need advice...
~Melissa
There might be a time management excuse for your other members. You have been hit hard with the studies, they probably feel the same way. Keep up the great work, even if only 1 benefits, you have given that one person some experience that won't be found elsewhere at Gettysburg...
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could try to get some more input from the rest of the club about what types of activities they would be really interested in participating in? That might give them a little more ownership of the process and encourage them to actually sign up and show up when the activities roll around. I went to a much bigger undergrad than you but our pre-vet club was pretty sad and lonely, so it's also just possible that there aren't many among your classmates who are very serious about trying to get into vet school. Good luck!
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