A Lesson Learned too late

By: Alicia Agnew

Class of 2013, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine

Summer is supposed to be a time to relax, go to the beach, hang out with friends.  Unfortunately, I have an inability to balance my life which I need to work on before getting out into the “real world”.  Summer had several objectives for me: 1) earn enough money for school, 2) get more clinical experience, and 3) get my goats under control, a yearly struggle.

I interned at Banfield for 12 weeks which was nice since I had a guaranteed schedule and it was an easy commute from home. Banfield is an interesting place. Protocols are very standard which made it very easy for me to learn how to handle animals and place catheters for the first time. Protocols gave the vets a lot of support but at the same time I felt as if procedures could be a little constrained. I also learned that Chihuahuas have a particular aversion to me. I worked 40 hours a week in the clinic and then waitressed twenty hours on the weekend. Towards the end of the summer I was dropping lots of glasses but luckily no one seemed to mind. 

Want a glance at my daily schedule? Wake up early, 5:30-6 am. Feed and milk goats. Go to work. Come back around 8PM. Feed myself, goats, and milk. Monday through Saturday. Sunday is the day where I wake up, do chores I haven’t done all week then sleep. My recommendation: DO NOT DO THIS. IT IS NOT FUN. Please learn from me and realize that a sixty hour week means you don’t get to hang out with friends and you spend too much time working with animals than actually enjoying them. Next summer, no matter what, I will not work more than forty hours/ week.