Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Good to be Back
I have to admit, I was getting pretty bored during the third week of break, even though I tried to keep busy.
I forgot to blog about my visit with my mentor at the Shedd Aquaruim--it was cool, but I'll post it later since I don't have the photos with me right now.
The first day back was kind of exciting, but without the nervous and lost feeling of the very first day back in August. It was good to see some familiar faces, and as expected everyone looks a little different--new haircuts, tans on those lucky enough to go somewhere warm, and what not. Our Cardiology professor seem very cool, wildlife rounds were interesting, I cooked up a gallon of curried potatoes, carrots and tofu for this week's dinners, and I even squeezed in some water volleyball at a little pool party held by a classmate.
The highlight of my first day back undoubtedly was an enlightening conversation I had with
Dr. Val Beasley (co-founder of the
Envirovet program). I stopped by his office to ask him about a conservation biology course and soon found myself knee-deep in a discussion about the veterinary, pathologic, toxicologic, agricultural, economic and political aspects of the this broad and growing field of "conservation medicine."
When I was first considering coming back to school, I considered things like conservation biology, entomology and zoology. Anything that could be applied to active conservation of natural resources and species. I chose veterinary medicine because I thought of it as hands-on, specific yet broad, and very applicable to many areas of conservation. A good choice, yet the applications for
veterinary knowledge alone in conservation are still very broad and varied, according to Dr. Beasley.
So what do I do? How do I choose and pursue a veterinary role in conservation? Well, Dr. B says the first step is to minimize debt in case I need to pursue further schooling. "Live in a crappy apartment, don't eat out much, get a job." Done, done, and working on it (although he also emphasized that it
is very possible to make a decent living in this field--contrary to my prior belief). The other first step is to think about what kind of habitat I want to focus on. Where do I want to work--around the country, around the world, mountains, farms, coastal, tropical, rivers? Think about that, then see him again in a few days after I've figured it out.
I'm thinking coastal because I'd love to work and live near water, but then I was thinking tropical caves, because I love bats. What a dilemma.
