Second Year Service Project- Veterinary Medical Center

For my second year service project, I completed forty hours of service at The Ohio State University’s Veterinary Medical Center. Once a week, I volunteered for one hour in the Intensive Care Unit and one hour in the Oncology Department. As a volunteer, I was able to see the day-to-day activities that occur within a large veterinary hospital. I provided comfort to animals during their stay, walked dogs outside, cleaned kennels, refilled water bowls, and replaced bedding. This experience was very rewarding, and being able to make patients feel more comfortable and relaxed during their stay in the hospital was a great experience. I followed along with the veterinary students as they did rounds, and learned a lot during my time as a volunteer. This was my second year as a volunteer at the hospital, and I look forward to continuing my service hours next year as well!

Professional School Student Interview

For the Academic Enrichment portion, I interviewed a veterinary school student in the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois. I have known Megan Coady since I was a freshman in high school, and she has been an awesome friend and mentor throughout my first two years as an undergraduate animal sciences major. Megan was a Pre-Vet Animal Science major at Iowa State University, and graduated in the spring of 2015. In the fall of 2015, Megan enrolled in veterinary school at the University of Illinois in Urbana, Illinois.  I asked Megan several questions about her undergraduate experience, advice about applying to different veterinary schools, and what her veterinary school experience has been like for her first and second year. Megan’s favorite part of her undergrad was having the opportunity to be a tour guide for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She told me that it was an awesome opportunity to learn more about her university and show incoming students the benefits of attending Iowa State. During her fourth year, Megan was also involved in a research project involving 80 dogs, and she told me that it was very rewarding to see the initial effects that the research was having on developing treatment for a fatal, congenital disease in children.

Megan’s advice to other pre-professional school students was to work hard, but to make sure to take time for yourself, relax, and make fun memories with friends. She expressed that since becoming a veterinary school student, her free time has greatly decreased, and she was glad to have had so much fun during her undergraduate to create an awesome college experience for herself. Grades from the beginning are very important, but it is also important squeeze in classes that interest you, even if they might not be directly connected to your major. Megan gave an example that she took a Grim Fairytales class during her sophomore year, and that it came up in a question during her veterinary school interview. She also told me that it is important to remember that if at any time professional school doesn’t seem to be the path for you, to not be afraid to change plans in order to create a career that will make you happy in the long run. Megan’s experience so far in veterinary school has been incredible. While she says that the long classroom and clinical hours are exhausting, it has made her so happy to be working towards the end goal of being a veterinarian after graduation.

It was really great to get to catch up with Megan and to hear about how her experience as a veterinary student has been so far. She has given me awesome advice, and I’m excited to keep in contact with her as I continue working towards attending a veterinary school in the future.

Do.

As birthday surprise for one of us, my friends and I decided to purchase tickets to an escape room in Columbus, called Trapped In a Room with a Zombie! It was a puzzle room that consisted of various clues and each team was given a time limit of an hour to find the final key and unlock the door, all while simultaneously avoiding the zombie chained to a wall in the room. Our friend was super surprised and it was a fun, team bonding afternoon. In the end, we opened the door with 1 minute and 44 seconds left, and joined the few 22% of teams that have successfully completed the escape room!escape room

Go.

Before coming back from winter break, my best friend from home and I made plans for her to come visit me in February the weekend before her birthday. In addition to showing her around campus, we were able to spend a Saturday afternoon in the Short North, on a strangely warm day for the month! This was the first time I had been to there, and it was very nice to shop around, eat dinner, and make candles at the Candle Lab while simultaneously spending time with a great friend.short north

Eat.

For the eat part of this project, my friends and I decided to try something new and to eat at an Indian food restaurant here in Columbus, just north of campus on High Street. I had never had Indian food before. The restaurant was called Mogul Dhubar, and was a very small building with just a couple of tables inside. One of our friends is very familiar with Indian cuisine, so he offered to take us all and help us with our experience. For our big group, we decided to eat “family style” and order several different types of food for everyone to try, including various meat and vegetarian dishes. The favorite by far was naan, which is a garlic bread very similar to pita bread. It was a very fun experience, and definitely a type of food I would try again!Indian Food

Year in Review

This past year as a freshman at The Ohio State University, I have grown a lot personally and academically. I think I have developed a better idea of who I am as a student and friend based on the experiences I have had in my first two semesters of college. Coming into the fall semester, I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted in a career, and was focused on pre-veterinary medicine from the very beginning in the hopes of one day attending a School of Veterinary Medicine. Since starting my animal science classes at OSU, this has been confirmed, and the experiences I’ve had in various classes and hands-on opportunities with animals has given me a greater confidence in my ability to work with animals in a medical setting. As a senior in high school, I had this idea that college would be comparable to the AP classes I was taking at the time. This was definitely false, and I have had to adapt my study techniques and amount of time being put into my work in order to be successful in my often challenging science classes, including the dreaded general chemistry courses.  Last summer, I was very excited to be accepted into the Health Science Scholars program, and loved the idea of living on a floor with people who have the same interests as me! All of my best friends at Ohio State are also in the HSS program. This aspect, as well as the various service and fun opportunities made available to me through this program helped to shape the great experience I have had so far. As a second year in HSS next year, I hope to develop a service project that strengthens my values and is in line with something I enjoy!

My most memorable service experience I have had this year was through the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association. Through this organization, I have had the opportunity to volunteer in The Ohio State University’s Veterinary Medical Center, specifically in the small animal Intensive Care Unit. Once a week for an hour at a time, I go to the hospital, and interact with the various dogs and cats that happen to be under care that week. This has played a large role in confirming the fact that I want to become a veterinarian in the future. During my volunteer shifts, I am allowed to feed and water the animals, take dogs outside to stretch their legs and go potty, and to sit with and comfort the other animals. One of the best experiences I have had at the hospital, was meeting a 9-year old female cat who had been in the hospital for 13 days with a gastrointestinal problem who had a bleak prognosis. She was able to come back from her illness and return home with her owners after a two and a half week hospital stay. I was told that she will have no restrictions, and can live a happy life in her home. From this experience I have gained confidence in working with sick and injured animals, and learned a lot about the internal organization and work that goes into making such a large animal hospital successful.

Final Strategic Life Plan

Looking back on this semester, the Health Science Scholars seminar class has been a great resource to guide me along my first college experiences.  After moving six hours away from home, from a small rural home town to big Columbus, the transition was drastic to say the least, but this scholars group has given me the tools I need to be successful and happy at such a large school.  I was pretty sure about my major before coming to college, but this class has helped to instill in me even more that I made a good choice becoming an animal science major.  The assignment about having a “backup” major made me realize that I wouldn’t enjoy another major as much as I am now.  I know the path to get to veterinary school is long and difficult, but if I put in the hard work the end result will be worth the struggle.  The resources on campus have been very helpful, from my upperclassmen mentor through HSS, to the professors, teaching assistants, and libraries, I have had all the information to be successful right at my fingertips.  Ohio State truly is a school with endless opportunities and resources. Throughout this first semester, I have gotten involved in several extra-curricular activities in an attempt to balance school work and social life.  I have become a member of the Pre-Veterinary Club, participate in activities with Real Life, and have applied to become a College Mentor for Kids.  On top of these, I also volunteer once a week at the Veterinary Hospital on campus.  Throughout next semester, and the rest of my college career at The Ohio State University, I hope to continue to grow academically and personally, and to make the most of my time here as a student.

This was taken at one of my favorite animal science lab trips this year to the Ohio State horse farm, where we were able to get hands on experience taking respiratory rates, heart rates, and temperatures.

This was taken at one of my favorite animal science lab trips this year to the Ohio State horse farm, where we were able to get hands on experience taking respiratory rates, heart rates, and temperatures.

This was taken the first time my dad, mom, and younger brother came to stay for a weekend to visit.

This was taken the first time my dad, mom, and younger brother came to stay for a weekend to visit.

My two closest friends,  my roommate Kylie, Susmitha, and I at one of our first home Buckeye games.

My two close friends, my roommate Kylie, Susmitha, and I at one of our first home Buckeye games.

G.O.A.L.S.

[ “G.O.A.L.S.” is a place where students write about how their planned, current, and future activities may fit into the Honors & Scholars G.O.A.L.S.: Global Awareness, Original Inquiry, Academic Enrichment, Leadership Development, and Service Engagement. For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.

Global Awareness: Students cultivate and develop their appreciation for diversity and each individual’s unique differences. For example, consider course work, study abroad, involvement in cultural organizations or activities, etc .
Original Inquiry: Honors & Scholars students understand the research process by engaging in experiences ranging from in-class scholarly endeavors to creative inquiry projects to independent experiences with top researchers across campus and in the global community. For example, consider research, creative productions or performances, advanced course work, etc.
Academic Enrichment: Honors & Scholars students pursue academic excellence through rigorous curricular experiences beyond the university norm both in and out of the classroom.
Leadership Development: Honors & Scholars students develop leadership skills that can be demonstrated in the classroom, in the community, in their co-curricular activities, and in their future roles in society.
Service Engagement: Honors & Scholars students commit to service to the community.]