Views of Luisiana

Entry, Creative Corner
Amy Ramos, Auburn University

Pelicans at the lake at the state capital, Baton Rouge

Muskrat at the lake a the state capital, Baton Rouge

Externship with the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission (ALPC)

Entry, Experiences
Justin Padgett, Auburn

There is little doubt after completing a Veterinary Pathology course that the field lies at the heart of all things veterinary medicine. Whether the specific discipline be public health or internal medicine, the skills learned and required  in anatomic and microscopic pathology act as “iron sharpening iron” to enhance any DVM’s skills in a chosen trade. Pathology requires a keen knowledge of gross and microscopic anatomy, a meticulous understanding of diseases and their routes of infection, and a detailed knowledge of the body’s responses to pathogenic stimuli.  It is for these reasons that I seek out any opportunity to spend extra time in the pathology laboratory and witness disease processes firsthand. I had a chance to pursue this goal this past winter break when I participated in an externship with the Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission (ALPC).

I was made aware of the opportunity to spend time with the ALPC through the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP) website.  The ACVP site is a great resource for any student looking to match with hosting pathology institutions that range in orientation from government to industry and research to zoo animal.

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How rejection can be your biggest success

Honorable Mention, Experiences Category
Christopher Reeves, Auburn University

The experience that has made me the most successful in both my personal life and in vet school would be, hands down, my rejection from vet school.  On the surface this may seem like an oxymoron, but it is the painful truth.  I owe everything I have accomplished to being told, “you’re not good enough… yet.”

After a typical college experience, I remember the day I was given my answer.  It was April of 2009, I was graduating the next month and I had gone home to Mobile Alabama to visit with my family.  That Saturday night we were about to sit down to have dinner; a London broil, asparagus, potatoes, and rolls to be exact, and I checked Facebook.  All of my friends had updated their statuses about whether or not they had gotten in.  A brick dropped in my stomach because I was 217 miles away from my Auburn mailbox.  I called up my brother and begged him, successfully, to drive the 53 miles from Montgomery to check the mail.  That whole dinner I was too anxious to eat, and about an hour later he called me.  I still remember the conversation:

 

“Hey man I’m pulling up!

Yup, the letter is in here… ‘Dear Christopher Reeves, yadda yadda yadda

We wish to inform you that you have been selected…

To be placed on the alternate list…

Dude I’m so sorry… But you still have a shot right?!”

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On Resolutions

Honorable Mention, Life as a Vet Student
Christopher Reeves, Auburn

For this edition's "Life as a Vet Student" category, The Vet Gazette asked readers, "As we begin another year, what resolutions are you making, and how successful do you think you’ll be at keeping them?" Here is how one student answered:

New Year’s resolutions in the past for me have had abysmal results at best.  Last year I figured I would trick myself by making an, “I won’t keep my New Year’s resolution” resolution, and that was probably the best one kept in my life!  But this year I believe will be different.  Not because I feel like I have more self-control, will-power, or bullheadedness, but because I discovered a new tool over the summer break that made my impact on my school the best yet last semester: LISTS!

I rediscovered regular old “To Do” lists, but this time with a new age twist.  I’ve tried these in the past with limited success.  For short term (day or two) projects they work wonderfully to keep me on track and keep my mind organized.  However for long term goals and projects, I just ended up losing them!  What is the point of a list if you can’t find it or you lose it?  So what is different this time? Computer desktop post-it notes!

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Externship in South Africa

Entry, Experiences
Caitlin Parsley, Auburn Univeristy

I see youSunset on Signal HillThe old man