Losing Motivation

Pre-Vet & Veterinary Medicine
1

Hello!

I am a Bio major taking vet prerequisites. I feel the need to vent and see if there’s others in similar situations.

I have dreamt of being a veterinarian since I was a little girl. Even throughout middle school and high school, it’s always been my career goal. I used to perform “surgery” on my stuffed animals when I was little, as morbid as it sounds, I had all good intentions and I would sew them back up as “sutures”. I’ve always been interested in the sciences, especially medically and anatomically based. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life other than being a vet.

Out of high school, I went to a community college, not realizing that vet schools tend to prefer private institutions. I wasn’t mature enough and didn’t take school seriously, and I got mediocre grades. I decided to take a semester off of school to work and “grow up”. The summer after that, I applied to a private school known for it’s vet tech program. I was accepted, and I was taking pre-vet courses as well. Life threw a curveball at me a month before I started my first semester. My mother passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly in her sleep. I found her in bed when she wasn’t waking up for her alarm. I made it through my first semester after that with really good grades, I wanted to make my mom proud, and I still hadn’t come to terms with her death.

The next semester, things got harder. My dad moved out shortly after her death, leaving my sister and I with the mortgage and bills. Up until that point, we’d never had to really “adult” before, and we quite literally got thrown into adulthood. I picked up as many hours at work as I could to pay bills, and tried to juggle school work in between. I had very long days and I often came home too exhausted to study appropriately. Debts went up, and grades went down, and my mental health was rocky. The final straw came a month into the spring semester, when I was hit by a car head on because the other driver was texting and crossed into my lane. My car was totaled. Without a vehicle, and no money to buy a new one, I missed a lot of classes. My stress levels were maxed out and I chose to withdraw. I then worked for a year to make money to pay off bills.

Here I am about 3 years after my moms death, working on my second semester of a Biology degree at another private school. My advisor wanted me to maximize my courseload, and I’m taking 17 credits, and all my classes are pretty involved. I am feeling really, really overwhelmed and discouraged. My grades are poor, I can’t concentrate, and I feel like I’m not studying efficiently. I keep telling myself that if I don’t have enough motivation to juggle everyday life, internships, and school, how will I ever make it to vet school? My record of poor grades and college switches will scare vet schools away I’m afraid. It hurts my chest to think that I may not make it to vet school, but how can I do it?

2

@cjptminis Yours is a hard situation. I strongly recommend concentrating on the things that are under your control now and push everything else out of your mind. Put on your “blinders”. (If you forgive the equestrian analogy.) Once you make it through this quarter, schedule a talk with your advisor and talk realistically about your options.

3

Hi,
I am not a current college student, but felt I should respond. First, I would like to say I am sorry for your loss, and that though it may not seem like it to you now, you are a motivated student. It seems like pursuing veterinary medicine has always been your passion, but understandably, this goal has gotten more difficult to achieve. Whatever you choose to do, just know, there are multiple paths to achieve your goal, and no matter what you choose, your passion for veterinary medicine will bring success for you.

4

I’m sorry for your unexpected loss and subsequent difficulties with school. School can be challenging enough without additional difficulties with life events so you have my sympathy.

I have a few questions for you.

  1. Where did you hear that vet schools like private college for undergrad? That’s the first I have ever heard of that and I have always heard vet schools don’t care where you go for undergrad.
  2. Do you have an instate vet school?
  3. Have you shadowed/worked in a vet clinic?

Based on what you wrote, I am going to disagree with your advisor. Yes, vet schools want to see that you can handle a full credit load but if you are also working full time and taking care of your sister then enrolling in 17 hours is crazy as you already have a full course load with your other responsibilities. I would suggest taking only 1-2 courses until school can be the focus. Otherwise, I feel your grades will continue to suffer. It’s impossible to burn the candle at both ends. My sister has had to adjust her college schedule to accommodate her illness. Her advisor pushes her to take a full credit load but she knows that is too much for her to handle. While it may take a little longer to graduate, in reality time goes so fast the extra year or even 2 is not a big deal. No one asks how long it took you to be potty trained and basically the same goes for college. All any one is going to ask is when you graduated and not how long it took. (Yes, there are benefits to graduating sooner but it sounds like in your case you need to consider taking fewer credits)

As far as vet school, they like to see improvements with GPA. So don’t worry about your past grades just improve for the future. You definitely need to figure out a study method that works for you. They also don’t care about number of different schools. Some people have transcripts from 4+ schools when they apply. Also, on the application for vet school there is a spot to discuss challenges and difficulties you have faced so you could explain why you decided to not take a full course load for example.

Motivation can be hard sometimes no matter what we are doing. I’m about to start 4th of vet school and I am absolutely petrified about not knowing things I think I should or being able to perform simple tasks. However when I start to head down that dark gloomy thought process I try to remind myself of how far I have come. You too have come far and can do this!