The door creaks open, and the bell rings. I hear the nervous footsteps of our little friends as they circle around and around the lobby as they wait for their turn to be seen. The rate at which I hear their toenails clicking to the marble floor indicates their level of worry and anxiety. This is definitely not their favorite place to be.
Even for us, humans, going to the hospital is never a fun experience. Necessary, but never enjoyable. It is the same for animals-domestic or wild. After deciding to intern at a local animal hospital for my senior project, I had a variety of expectations. One: It will not be a very busy workplace, and there will only be two to three appointments per day. Two: There is not much to treating or curing animals-only a couple different remedies to several common problems that occur in pets. Three: The workplace environment will be serious.
Much to my excitement, however, my expectations were all wrong. The animal hospital was an extremely busy place, with ten to twelve veterinarian technicians running all over the place. And there was not much leisure time between appointments throughout the day. Different pets came into the office to see the vet for issues and reasons I had never even thought of. Some were just simple check-ups and vaccinations, but some were more serious and required a full examination, blood work, x-ray, or ultrasound to diagnose the problem. And lastly, the workplace was an entertaining and social environment. Seriousness was present when examining or treating animals; however, behind the scenes, the radio was on with music in the background, the vets were having casual conversations with their technicians, and some cracked jokes here and there.
Working at a professional work environment not only taught me to learn the medical aspects behind the career of veterinary practice, but also opened my eyes to the fact that I have plenty to learn as I move on from high school into college, and into the adult world. Some things I will already know: animals and humans alike do not like hospital visits. However, I will come to obtain new information: dogs and cats actually tend to stay still when getting their blood drawn.

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