Leap of Faith

By: Stephanie Cruz

Tuskegee University, Class of 2012

Feeling like a hypocrite

Like I just shouldn’t fit

Let it just wash me over

Over they seem

To welcome me

Shining in

Like the breeze

Cold shoulders, cold stares

As if I wasn’t even there

Tell me why can this be?

Aren’t we meeting to praise

And love?

So I just digress

Trying to give my best

Please God I’m trying

Give me a sign

A divine signal

That I am doing right

I know you’re by my side

Don’t let the darkness

Envelope me

I am your soldier

I am carried on to you

Embrace me

Don’t let me fall

No single temptation

I will fight with predilection

Laugh they may

But I continue believing

Solely praising

Heavens to you

Alaskan Wilderness

By: Emily  Mehlman

Colorado State University, Class of 2013

For my last official summer, I wanted to gain vet experience while also seeking adventure and travel.  Alaska was the perfect place, having a paid externship opportunity in small animal emergency and miles of wilderness to explore. 

Anchorage was our base-camp of sorts and where we spent 4 weeks working at P.E.T. Emergency while hiking/running/biking around the area.  Even close to Anchorage there was much more exploration than one could do in a single month.  Every day I either ran in nearby Kincaid Park, biked to the Aleyeska (the local ski area), or found a good day hike around nearby glacier lakes.  Without having the limitations normally dictated by the nightfall, any hour was a fine time to enjoy the limitless outdoors. 

Click to read more ...

SAVMA Symposium Travel Grant

Deadline is coming up December 20th.

The SAVMA Symposium is an excellent professional development resource for all SAVMA members.  In addition, the symposium is an especially valuable opportunity for SCAVMA Chapter Presidents to interact with students from other schools to get ideas which can be implemented by local chapters.  This year's SAVMA Symposium is being held March 24-26, 2011 at the University of California- Davis.  For more information please visit: http://savmasymposium2011.com/  

Unfortunately, financial limitations sometimes prevent students and Chapter Presidents from being able to take advantage of the opportunities provided by SAVMA Symposium.  Therefore, the Economics and Professional Development Committee has started a travel grant program to help offset the cost of attending SAVMA Symposium. 

Four awards will be given for $250 each.  Two awards will be open to any SAVMA member and two awards will be reserved for SCAVMA Presidents or President-elects.  Following Symposium, all winners will be asked to write a brief paragraph about their experiences at SAVMA Symposium for inclusion in the Vet Gazette. 

To apply, email your completed grant application to SAVMA Economics and Professional Development Committee at savma.epdc@gmail.com, by December 20th, 2010.  Winners will be notified of selection in early January, 2011. You can copy and paste the questions below to fill out the application, or contact your school's SAVMA delegate for more information.

Click to read more ...

Interrupted

By: Lindsey Thomas

Louisiana State University, Class of 2012

He ambles toward the door

A picture of lazy confidence

Until you see his troubled eyes—

Kaleidascope images fenced.

I can’t seem to speak,

To swallow that selfish pride,

To tell him to STOP! WAIT!

We both bottle our hurt inside

Then: A phone call, a gasp,

Everything blurs,

Can’t move fast enough,

At only myself I curse.

Wringing hands, fervent prayers,

I shouldn’t have let him go!

Curves and bridges and curves,

Ice, sleet and snow…

Smell of sterile, of fear,

I can’t seem to stop the cold;

A muted television,

Stare blindly at magazines old

Why are they smiling?!

Don’t they know??

Why will the world not stop

Or even slow?

Minutes are years,

Every footstep is a drumbeat

Then the white coat enters—

We all rise from our seats.

There’s no need to speak

His red-rimmed eyes tell

Please, please wake me!

If it’s not a dream, it’s hell

Send me away, I won’t even breathe

Until he smiles again

Beauty is sarcasm, all colors gray

Without my love, my best friend

Every song, every scene

Memories crumple my soul

Maybe (just maybe) if I lay still long enough,

I will fade out, wake in his arms,

And again be whole.

2010

Musings of an Entrenched 4th Year Veterinary Student

By: Misha Neumann

University of Illinois, Class of 2011

• For me, the 1^st day of a rotation, is the worst. I tend to have the unfortunate luck of staying well after hours and get the emergencies
• Why oh why do I always get the crazies? (both animals and owners)
• It’s really hard to talk to an attractive client face-to-face without sounding like a total idiot
• Why am I required to wear nice professional clothes when I just put a dumpy labcoat over them?
• It never fails that as soon as I hand-bleach the heck out of my labcoat, I get it mucked up, due to no fault of my own
• There isn’t a day that goes by where I almost walk out the door and never look back
• It only takes a sweet animal or an appreciative word to make it all worth it.
• I admit it.  I’ve dance in the Equine wards at 3am with my hoodie up and my iPod blastin’.
• I am very thankful that I am not one of the unlucky souls who have found poop in my pocket.

Click to read more ...