Over this past summer, I went to Guatemala for two weeks to work under local veterinarians. The point of the trip was to get as much hands-on experience working with animals as possible. The laws in Guatemala are different from here in America, so students can perform surgeries, vaccines, de-worming, etc.

I knew it was an extensive program when on the second day I had spayed and neutered multiple dogs. We set up inside of a church in a major city and did surgery for strays and natives who could not afford it on their own. I had multiple patients in a day and took them through surgery prep, surgery, and post-operation care. Clamping and cutting ovarian pedicles and stitching up my first spay is something I will never forget.

Not even two days later I was in a zoo hospital, administering dialysis to an ocelot. Running my hand over an exotic cat’s fur at the age of seventeen, confirmed I would be a wildlife veterinarian for the rest of my life. Later that day, I assisted in training an elephant to lift her foot for treatment and practiced blow-darting animals on a safari.

There were many things I learned and experienced on this trip that I will remember forever, including drawing blood from horses and injecting vaccines into cows and birds like turkeys, ducks, and chickens; wrangling donkeys then administering de-wormer; and injecting vitamins into small ponies.

After this trip I decided that I will, without a doubt, be a wildlife veterinarian in Europe. Working with all different kinds of wild and exotic animals was a thrill I will carry with me throughout my entire career.