Tobar 1 Bret Tobar April 28, 2014 College Visit Reflective Essay As elaborated in t e !

College Representative Visit"#ob $ntervie%& section $ attended 'an (rancisco 'tate )niversity*s +'('), !'nea- .revie% /ay& and attended )C /avis* Veterinary 't0dent 10treac !(0t0re /ay2& 3 ile bot of t ese events %ere tec nically college visits t e latter involved 40c disco0rse and instr0ction on t e s-ills, necessary prere50isites, and responsibilities of a veterinarian t 0s $ decided to label it as a 6ob intervie%2 Bl0ntly, $ ave c osen to p0rs0e 4y bac elor*s degree in bioc e4istry at 'an (rancisco 'tate b0t $ aven*t 50ite decided if $ %ant to attend vet sc ool and beco4e a veterinarian after receiving said bac elors2 $n brief, % ile bot !(0t0re /ay& and !'nea- .revie% /ay& too- place on 0niversity gro0nds and %ere e50ally infor4ative, t ey bot involved vastly different s0b6ect 4atter and events t at is tanta4o0nt to 4y post7secondary ed0cation2 !'nea- .revie% /ay& on one7 and 4ostly involved infor4ation abo0t '(')*s depart4ents, o0sing and college 4a6or infor4ation2 Being a science 4a6or $ 4ostly spo-e %it eads, st0dents and staff of t e 'cience and Engineering College, $ as-ed a bit abo0t o% fre50ent is 0ndergrad researc and o% an 0ndergrad 4ig t get involved in researc 2 T ey responded by infor4ing 4e it is fairly co44on for 0ndergrads to get involved in researc and to do so t ey need only e8press t eir desire to a professor % o %ill eit er accept t e4 or deny t e4 a position2 )nfort0nately at t e event t ere %as no one representing 4y intended 4a6or, bioc e4istry, so $ spo-e %it t e 'cience and Engineering College representative abo0t t e 4a6or*s i4paction policies, s0ggested co0rse se50ence and advising % ic 0lti4ately t at didn*t tell 4e too 40c b0t $ did at least learn t e re50ired place4ent tests $ needed to ta-e for so4e 4y lo%er division classes2 After t at $ to0red t e ca4p0s a little and got to see so4e of t e biology labs t at %ere open for p0blic vie%ers ip s0c as t e e4bryology lab, 04an anato4y lab and t e 4arine biology lab9 in doing so $ spo-e to so4e of t e 0ndergrad st0dents % o %ere

Tobar 2 doing researc and %as 50ite intrig0ed to find so4e of t e4 as first a0t or in scientific p0blications2 (inally, before leaving $ %atc ed a s ort video on '(')*s o0sing and o0sing policy along %it 4eal plans and ca4p0s life2 At t e Veterinary 't0dent 10treac !(0t0re /ay& $ beca4e cogni:ant of t e vario0s responsibilities, prere50isites and necessary s-ills of a veterinarian2 (or e8a4ple, t e introd0ctory tal- of t e event foc0sed pri4arily on t e ed0cation pat to beco4ing a veterinarian +typically follo%ing a bac elor %it certain prere50isites 7; <rad0ate Records E8a4ination +<RE, 7; vet sc ool 7; veterinarian,2 T e events of t e day consisted of a series of alf7 o0r %et labs osted by t e vario0s professional cl0bs of )C /avis Veterinary 'c ool, for e8a4ple t ere %as diagnostic i4aging %et lab osted by t e radiology cl0b2 T ro0g o0t t e day $ received vario0s parap ernalia infor4ing 4e on t e re50ire4ents for ad4ission to )C /avis Veterinary 'c ool, t e partic0lar specialties a veterinarian, t e careers one can get %it a /octor of Veterinary =edicine +/V=,, t e typical str0ct0re and organi:ation of veterinary sc ool and t e partic0lar roles of a veterinarian2 $n reflection $ believe t at t e infor4ation gained fro4 bot events %as incredibly %ort % ile and %as critical to finali:ation of certain post7secondary ed0cation plans2 T e infor4ation gained fro4 t e !'nea- .revie% /ay& for e8a4ple is so4e% at straig tfor%ard9 $ no% ave an idea of t e i4paction policies % ic affect 4y 4a6or, t e necessary place4ent tests for certain lo%er division classes, a loo- at t e set0p of so4e of '(') labs and t e e50ip4ent t ey 0se, and an idea of o% 0ndergrad researc %or-s at '(')2 T e -no%ledge gained fro4 t e !(0t0re /ay& is a little 4ore abstract, t o0g $ don*t -no% if $ %ill beco4e a veterinarian t e careers t at $ a4 loo-ing into all involve practicing 4edicine in so4e for4at and so certain facets of infor4ation gained t ro0g o0t t e day %o0ld certainly co4e in andy2 (or e8a4ple, t e diagnostic i4aging lab afore4entioned i4parted on 4e an idea of o% to interpret an >7ray, obvio0sly %it >7rays being ever7present in 04an and ani4al 4edicine t at s-ill %ill ind0bitably co4e in andy2 Additionally so4e of t e specialties learned abo0t t at day9

Tobar ? pat ology, p ar4acology, radiology are all ealt sciences critical to t e ealt of 04ans and ani4als and so learning 60st a little bit t at day 4ig t elp do%n t e road regardless of % at career pat $ follo%2 $n reflection !(0t0re /ay& and !'nea- .revie% /ay& are 60st t%o of t e 4any events t at $ ave attended or observed o0tside of sc ool in preparation of post7secondary ed0cation and a follo%ing career2 T o0g t ey represented t%o entirely different t ings and involved %ildly different events bot of t e4 i4parted on 4e infor4ation % ic is critical to 4y life o0tside of ig sc ool2