lemonslush

I currently work in Web design and content management. My bachelor’s degree is in journalism. My last semester of college, I took a basic computer science course and chose the Web design track therein. That’s where I learned my first bits of HTML and CSS, where I tried my hand at Dreamweaver and basic Web pages with background-color: BRIGHT PURPLE. Now I make my living at a nonprofit, making more than my mother makes at her two jobs combined.

But I’m unhappy. Not because I hate the company or the job, but because of the stress, because I ultimately don’t feel as though I’m making a difference where I am. Anyone could do what I do here, or be trained to do it in less than 8 weeks. It’s not challenging me or stretching me, and with the massive workload on my back all the time, I don’t think there ever will be time for stretching or challenging.

I love animals. Longer than I’ve written or coded, I’ve loved dogs, cats, sea turtles, manatees, rabbits and Guinea pigs. I’ve never had a pet of my own (other than a hermit crab and fish) longer than a week, but that doesn’t mean I don’t embrace the animal kingdom—it means my ability to commit sucks, and I’m eternally afraid of doing a bad job of being a parent. But I’ve loved my sister’s dogs, my boyfriend’s cats and a lot of other vicariously owned pets.

I’m a nurturer by nature, and my simultaneous love of animals makes me think I should change my career path and head toward veterinary medicine. So I’ve been looking into that field for a time now, weighing my options, wondering which door to take, if any. I could be a veterinary technician, a veterinary technologist (not much different) or a veterinarian. (Veterinary assistants are in there, too, but that’s more a volunteer-type position than a real job.)

But each door seems to be stuck just a little. Some of that stickiness comes from the fact that I have a good job, one that I’m supposed to like and excel at, with a company that’s strong. But the rest comes from different sources. The veterinary technician/technologist door is stuck on a big ol’ rock with a dollar sign on it. The estimated salary of a vet tech of either variety is $19k-$35k/year. Now, of course that varies state to state, based on cost of living, but that’s still drastically lower than what I make now. And while I know that money isn’t everything, especially if you’re doing what you love, it’s something, and can be a lot if your significant other wants to start his own business someday. But the veterinarian door is stuck on a chunk of education. While I have my bachelor’s, very few classes I took would work toward a veterinary medicine degree. I’d basically have to start with a second bachelor’s in biological or animal science, then pursue my Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. DVM programs are scarce, and their acceptance rates are frighteningly low, with fewer than 3,000 students admitted each year, and more than 10,000 applying. The field is growing, as are the salaries, but education is hard to come by. I graduated from Michigan State with a 3.5, not a 4.0. I wasn’t much of a studier. They say vet school is harder than med school because there are so many different animal species and just one human. I just don’t know if I’m capable of doing that.

So, which block do I push aside? Or do I push any? I asked a while back if it made more sense to keep journalism/computers as my career and animals as my hobby/volunteering outlet. But I don’t know. My job is so much of what I do. Maybe not who I am, but what I do. And if I’m unhappy with it, or feel as though it’s not making a difference in the way I want it to, I don’t want to be spending all that time and energy on it.

I know I can always go back to being a content shuffler, a front-end coder or a writer and editor. It may seem odd to potential bosses if my résumé has a big blob of veterinary work in the middle of it, but if I ultimately want to work for or with animals, that may be to my advantage in future career pursuits.

My main issue, if I want to kick aside the money clod, is that it would require a move sometime in the near future. Which would mean quitting my job and Bryan quitting his job. And we’d have to move halfway across the country (or at least to the other side of the state) for me to pursue it. And being in school + part-time work + Bryan looking for a job himself = living off savings and struggling. I know we can do it, and that we’ve both been very lucky so far in the financial arenas, but it’s scary nonetheless.

And wherever I go to school, I need to be doing the right things to get there: observing at veterinary clinics, taking the right biology and chemistry courses, applying in time, taking entrance exams, etc. Because I don’t want to drop the ball anywhere along the way. As I’ve gotten older, it seems as though academic advisers have gotten less and less helpful, because they know I’m not some dim-witted freshman straight out of high school. But I do feel like one at times. Times like right now.

So, do I step into being a vet tech, leap into being a veterinarian or stay where I am now? I’m still undecided. And just thinking about it all both intimidates and excites me. I just hope I will get some clarity of mind on the issue soon so I can stop worrying and start planning for my future. I don’t want to wait and regret it later. I want to pick the right path for me now.