AVMA HQ Externship

By: Trina Schey

Iowa State University, Class of 2013

The summer of 2010, I participated in the AVMA headquarters externship at the Schaumburg, Illinois location.  I was assigned to the Education and Research division and quickly became familiar with the role of the AVMA in college accreditation within the states and abroad.  The first day at the office was filled with excitement as well as a bit of apprehension.  I was introduced to all the key players in the division starting with Dr. David Granstrom and Dr. Elizabeth Sabin, both in which were very influential in the role that I was to play as an AVMA extern.  Dr. Granstrom gave me a tour of the building introducing me to everyone at the facility, many names and faces that I would try to keep together, and then had me settle down in my office and begin the research for my project. 

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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. 

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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.

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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