Career Fair

There's a career fair this week, and I'm strongly considering going to it. I want to get a good idea of what kinds of jobs are out there for me if I don't go to vet school. For me, I get nervous in business social settings, and I'm afraid I will have no clue to ask them. I think I might actually google search good elevator speeches and questions to ask a company, even if I'm not interested in getting a job yet. I want to be aware of what is available for me. It feels like every day I find out about another job in the animal science field and it makes me even more excited to graduate knowing that there are more jobs out there waiting to be filled. However, I want to be sure that these jobs will still be in existence when I graduate. I also want to be sure these jobs will be fulfilling and reliable. Getting these things answered would make me feel a whole lot better about my decisions!

Busy Busy Busy

Sometimes, being a science major, I find myself scrambling for time to complete assignments, studying, and extracurriculars. After a week like last week, I'm still catching my breath! Three exams and a quiz later, I can finally breathe! Since I get so stressed out from just that, I think about how vet school would be in comparison and I'm thinking it'd probably be worse! Which is another deterrent from continuing my education for a DVM. My logic now is, if my head isn't in the game, then I probably shouldn't play the dang game.

Research

So, like I said before, I am trying to get more into the field of research as an undergraduate. I think research would be an awesome way to get my feet wet in the 'mysterious' land of graduate school, and help me really apply the things that I learn in my studies to real life. I just had a meeting with two of Dr. Johnson's graduate students, and they sounded like they could use my help. They have a few projects running, but are too early on in the process to have any data or anything to analyze yet. Maybe later on as I work my way up, they'll have something for me to do with that project. It seems pretty interesting, it's about different housing systems for sows. They also have one project that they had all the data for, they just need to analyze it. This project has to do with piglets and their behavior. They fed a sow probiotics during her gestation period, and are now trying to see what beneficial affects it had on the piglets. Since next week they are busy, I will start being trained in two weeks! I will just be watching recorded video footage of the piglets, and being trained on what exactly to look for while I watch them. The more I work my way up, the more hands-on things I will get to experience, so I'm excited for that!

Another Chat With a Professor

For ANSC 298, one of our out-of-class assignments is to interview an animal science professor and ask them questions about their profession, how they got there, what advice they have for students like us, and what kinds of research they're currently doing. I chose to meet with Dr. Koelkebeck because I remembered him from his unit in my ANSC 100 class I took freshman year. I'm really glad I chose him because he made me feel a lot better about my situation. I asked how he got to where he is today, and he told me by luck. He is a poultry professor here, but graduated college with a B.S in general agriculture. Agricultural economics was his first plan, but it didn't work out like he wanted. A friend knew of a job opening as a technician at a poultry job, so he interviewed and got the job. After about six months, his boss asked him if he wanted to take a few more classes for a masters, so he did. He then got his PhD and applied for jobs in academia. Since I am in the dilemma of whether after I get my B.S in animal science if I should find a job, go to graduate school, or apply to vet school, it was really nice to talk to someone who also didn't know what they wanted exactly before graduation. I asked him what advice he has for someone like myself in this kind of situation and he said the main thing is to keep my options open. I guess he is right, because that obviously worked out really well for him! With all my tests coming up this next week (3 tests and a quiz...), I panic even when I think about my future from added stress. I found some ease after talking to him, since he was basically in the same situation. He thought about veterinary school, going into ag economics, or cattle and beef production. Finally I feel some sweet relief (which is definitely a temporary feeling), about my lack of decision-making. The thing I found that was most interesting about Dr. K was that he first took a job in Hawaii after he got his PhD! How crazy to think that animal sciences, specifically poultry, could take you to such an awesome tropical location! It just goes to show that animal agriculture is truly everywhere, which also makes me feel better about job opportunities and things related to that. Finally, some feeling of tranquility during this stressful time of studying!

Attack of the Sheep

Today I had my sheep lab for my ANSC 103 class, and I actually learned a lot! We handled the sheep today, learned how to 'catch' them, and how to judge their body types. I've never had to catch a sheep before, it was definitely an experience. I had to basically clothesline my sheep to get ahold of it to control its head. Then, moving it was another feat because my sheep was being as uncooperative as possible. I tried pushing where its tail was but got no response, so the student assistants told me to shove it in the behind with my knee. I shoved it so hard that the sheep's legs gave out and I had it sitting on my lap. After some struggling it finally moved with me and I was successful! Before the individual work though, we had groups of 3 or 4 move sheep into the main room so we could better study their bodies. The first group accidentally let its sheep go, and it nearly escaped the building. The group made a barricade around the sheep, and unfortunately for one of the poor girls in the group, the sheep freaked out and tried to jump away but ended up nailing the girl in the face and knocked her to the ground! She had a big cut under her eye and had to leave for a little, so I was kind of nervous to move my group's sheep next. Needless to say, it went fine, but it was just another reminder that working with animals does always have some potential danger involved. However, this does not deter me like it would most. I still love my major and I love the idea of working with farm animals. It is all so new to me, and every lab I feel more and more confident that my (not yet finalized) decision to go to graduate school instead of veterinary school is the right choice for me. Next time at the sheep farm we will shear them, which will be pretty interesting! I'm excited to better learn the different husbandry tasks for all of these animals.

Working With Farm Animals

What a wonderful class... Tuesday I had my first lab at the dairy farm and it was really cool! I wasn't sure what to really expect, and since it was the first day, I was planning on doing a whole lot of sitting there. Needless to say, it was really fun! I've never really had experience with cows, and it is kind of intimidating working with something so large. However, my professor Dr. Hurley did a good job of not really giving us time to worry about things that may go wrong, and we got to working with the cows right away. Throughout the lab, we hand milked the cows, tested the milk for mastitis with a strip cup test, and learned how to handle and walk with them. I had never milked a cow before by hand, but I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was and how good I actually was at it! As if I didn't already think I was born in the wrong era, this is yet again another reason that supports my intuition... When it was time to walk the cows, I got kind of nervous since I'm so small and they are all so large. The boy who handed my cow off to me told me she was pretty riled up, so that was reassuring... I tried to get her to start walking but she was not having it. Finally I pulled with all of my might and she gave in, but they sure as heck don't appreciate being ushered around and kept trying to stop and go into their stalls. It is a lot easier if you go first, before she gets irritated and tired of the routine. I'm really glad U of I decided to make a class like this part of the animal science curriculum because otherwise I would've never had this experience to work with this variety of animals. I really do love all the exposure to animal agriculture, and it is definitely toying with my decisions and plans for the future! I go to the sheep farm this Tuesday, so I'm sure I will have another story soon! :)

The Medical Field

A degree in Animal Science can take you pretty much anywhere. That can be an awesome thing, or if you're like myself, that can also be a pretty confusing thing. I thought I knew what I wanted to do before coming to U of I- I wanted to become a veterinarian. I was so set on becoming a veterinarian, I couldn't imagine myself doing anything else. However, during my freshman year required classes, I was intrigued by animal agriculture, and the many different routes animal science can take you on, aside from veterinary medicine. Growing up in the suburbs, I was never exposed to any of these opportunities. To me, the only thing I could do with my degree was use it to go on and become a vet. Now, I am faced with all of these other opportunities and doors to open, and I am overwhelmed! I want to make the right choice and SOON because I want to spend as much time as I can getting experience and educated on what will be most useful to me later on in my life. Ugh, I hope who ever may be reading this is understanding my frustration! For now though, I decided to try to get some general exposure to medicine. To do this, I am volunteering at Carle Hospital this semester on Thursdays! I had my (5 and a half hour long..) orientation today, and was originally assigned to the surgical wing. However, due to a scheduling conflict, I had to be transferred to digestive health (boo). I may not get to see as cool of things here, but I still think it'll be interesting. Next semester I can always transfer departments too! The neat thing about anatomy is that it is basically the same from human to animal, with of course a few minor differences. I'm excited to be getting my foot in the door with medicine through volunteering at Carle, and maybe that will lead to more opportunities and confusion about what to do next, the world may never know... On the bright side, it is better to have so many opportunities and chances to gain experience than to have none at all. :)

Talk to Your Professors!

Since I am now a sophomore, I decided this year that I should take advantage of all the awesome opportunities that the University of Illinois has to offer. One of those being the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research. I really enjoyed the class ANSC 101 last year, so I took it upon myself to email Dr. Johnson to see if we could meet up and talk about her research and if she had any need for me in her lab. I met with her yesterday afternoon and I am so glad I did! She has so many different projects she and her graduate students are pursuing, and each one of them is different. She said I could be trained to do some observation and testing of samples, and then be integrated more into what the research is really about. I think that this is a great opportunity for me to get a feel for what research is, and ultimately if graduate school is something I would like to do post-grauation. I have to send her my availability and meet with her grad students to see where they need me, so I'll be posting more about what goes on with this! :) Looking back now, my biggest regret from freshman year is not getting to know my professors. I always thought they were so busy and wouldn't be willing to help a random student. I now realize this year that they are so easy to talk to and if you have any questions or would like to meet with them, just shoot them an email. It is so simple and you'll be glad you did! They are all (or mostly all) very willing to help and nice! Also, next year I will have to choose (I think we get to pick?) a new academic advisor, and they may not know me so well since last year I didn't talk to any of them. To make up for this, I am trying to start a nice foundation this year to broaden my horizons and to make more options for myself in the future.

First Blog Post... EVER

My James Scholar Honors project for this semester's class of ANSC 298 is to make a blog of my journey as an animal science student. Basically, I will post a couple times a week, spilling my brain's thoughts and confusions into this blog for current and future animal science students to read and hopefully connect with! If I do it right, I think that this project can be really cool and be a useful tool to work out my animal science endeavors. Stay tuned for what's to come this sophomore year!