My name is Amanda and I have recently been accepted to one of my top out-of state veterinary schools for entrance this Fall 2021 semester. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that you can only take out a certain amount of loans per year for it before having to pay the rest up front.
Unlike most others, I didn’t know I was going to be a veterinarian since I was a child, and in fact I had not decided on doing so until my Junior year of college. As a result, I have not had nearly as much time to save up for a profession as costly as this one. I always did well in school, graduating with a 3.87 GPA for my dual degree in Psychology and Neuroscience & Behavior. After earning my veterinary assistant certifications on top of my regular college coursework and extracurriculars, I got my first job my senior year as a veterinary assistant. Wanting to learn about/do more with other species as well, I started volunteering at a horse stable, and after 6 months of her teaching me about horses she offered me a job there as well. Finally, wanting to gain any farm animal experience, I earned my Dairy Animal Care and Quality Assurance certification.
Just for general information, one year of tuition only at the veterinary school I am attending is $56,602. This is not including books, room and board, transportation, the ~$3,500 rabies vaccine students are required to get, etc. Completion of this 4 year veterinary school will cost $226,408 in tuition only by the time I graduate and around ~$300,000 total.
So why do I still want to be a veterinarian??
Veterinarians are known as the doctors that take care of your beloved companions. Veterinarians are responsible for helping you to take care of your pets so that they can spend as much time alive with you as possible, while still taking into account the animals’ quality of life. Since animals cannot speak for themselves, veterinarians must be able to tell what could be wrong with an animal mostly based off of the animals’ behavior and what an owner tells them. After you have observed an animals’ behavior, then you can decide which diagnostics to perform on the animal if needed to find a specific cause of what could be wrong. Veterinarians also play a role in public health for preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases. For example, with the rabies vaccine being required/highly recommended among numerous species, veterinarians administering these types of vaccines has greatly reduced the amount of rabies exposure cases and deaths among humans (and other animals). Another way in which I personally would most look forward to contributing to society is becoming a professor in a university setting after retiring from practice. I find excitement in the thought of paving a road to success for future veterinarians because I want to make them as great as I am already expecting myself to be.
Ultimately, making any donation at all will help me get one step closer to becoming what I dream of, as I can only get so much money in loans and have to pay the rest up front each semester along with all my other expenses. I only put a goal of $28,301, not at all because I expect to receive that amount, but to show you all how much just 1 semester of tuition alone is for an out of state veterinary school.
I thank you all even if you don’t donate, but for just reading my story! Even if you couldn’t donate, I just hope I have taught you something of value about why veterinarians are amazing!!!
Here is the link to my gofundme page: https://gofund.me/67925859