Career Narrative Essay

Career Narrative
My whole life I have loved being around animals. I love taking care of them, petting them, walking them, and basically anything you can think of, that is why I want to become a veterinarian so badly. I believe I will be successful in this career because I am good with solving problems as well as dealing with people in stressful situations. A vet specializes in determining and curing illnesses in animals. There are multiple types of vets; some specialize in big animals (horses, cows, sheep, etc.) who travel to farms, and some specialize in small animals (dogs, cats, birds, etc.) who stay in-office or travel to a client’s home if necessary.

Vets are like doctors for animals; they can diagnose them with sicknesses and diseases, they can give them medications, they can perform surgeries, etc.. The vets that work with bigger animals have a harder time performing these tasks due to the size of the animal. They also take on bigger risks since the animals are more powerful than the small ones. As was stated earlier, their jobs are also tougher because they have to travel to farms and different locations, unlike vets of the smaller animals who get to

stay in-office.

Some benefits of being a veterinarian are that I will have very good medical, dental, and vision insurance.

I will get 2-4 weeks of paid vacation and paid sick leave per year. The average salary for a vet is $88,490. The most a vet can make is $158,260, while the lowest amount is $53,210. The money I make will need to be put towards my education because of how much it costs. A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree costs between $28,000 and $54,000 per year and takes four years to get this degree. The educational requirements are divided between lab sessions, classroom lectures, and clinical studies. I will have to take classes involving infectious diseases, pharmacology, parasitology, and immunology. I can take these classes and get this degree at accredited vet schools, like Michigan State for

example.

The only disadvantage I have with this job is that I don’t want to put animals down and see the look on the family’s faces. On the contrary, seeing the look on the family’s face when I save their pet is what I will work for. If an owner comes in stressed out because they don’t know what is wrong with their pet, I want to be able to help them figure out what the problem is and how I can save their pet. To pursue this career, I will apply to the colleges with the best veterinary programs. I am planning on job shadowing the vet that my family uses for our pets, I believe he will help me pick a good school to apply to. I am very excited to pursue this career and start my future.