I didn’t want to be a vet! Techy nerd turned veterinary student advocate
I never wanted to be a vet. I don’t have the story of ‘I've wanted to be a vet ever since I was a child…’ I wanted to be a helicopter pilot. I wanted to be a professional video game player. I grew up gaming after school – your classic nerd stereotype. I was unsure what I wanted to do even when taking my GCSEs and A-levels.
I also wasn’t very good at science, but I was pushed to do it as I was told it was the ‘way forward to university’. I decided to study biology, chemistry and economics for my A-levels and inevitably I was bad at them.
By the end of my AS-levels, I had two Us and an E. I was then suddenly told to fill out my UCAS application and decide on my future. I was 17 and I was being told I had to plan out my life? Well, I decided to try to become a vet. Why? I wanted to work with penguins.
Journey to vet school
I began researching how to get into vet school. I found foundation years and gateway programmes and I applied for two: a vet school that shall remain nameless, which rejected my application because I didn’t have a B grade GCSE in English language, and the Royal Veterinary College (RVC). I placed all my cards into the RVC gateway programme and for the remainder of my options I chose animal and biology courses at other universities. I had no work experience and I’d never even seen a cow in real life!
I quickly found some work experience at a local practice – the vet there surprisingly remembered me seven years later when we ran into each other at London Vet Show – and I got an interview at the RVC. The interview turned into an offer and the offer has progressed to year 6 of vet school.
Introduction to AVS
I’ve had some ups and downs during my time as a student. I failed a year. I suffered mental health problems. I got a job working for the students’ union. I then discovered the Association of Veterinary Students (AVS). AVS was surrounded by hype – lots of stories and excitement from older years. I was told I had to go to at least one AVS sports weekend. So that’s what I did.
Sports weekend in Glasgow 2019 was the last major AVS event before the Covid-19 pandemic hit. It was billed as a ‘weekend full of sports’ but I didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t been to Scotland before; I’d never even been past London! This was the furthest north I’d been.
I piled onto a coach dressed as a traffic cone with a seven-hour journey ahead of me. We finally reached Glasgow and the weekend proceeded how any AVS sports weekend does: flash forward and I’m sitting in a Wetherspoons with the AVS committee drinking Jägerbombs.
In line with the nerd stereotype, I was never very outgoing. I was never very good at talking to people. I have a massive fear of public speaking. So how did I become president of AVS? I decided to just go for it. While vet schools contain masses of extremely smart people, not many of them are very ‘techy’.
Initially, I applied for the role of AVS communications officer, I was also working as a social media manager for the students’ union at the time. I apparently enjoy loading myself up with things to do, so I decided to apply for the communications officer role in 2020. This position became much more important when Covid-19 hit as everything moved online, so I became very quickly and very deeply involved with AVS from the get go.
I was in that role for a year before I decided to stand for junior vice president (JVP) – I was up against Charlotte Tobin-Williams, who is now my senior vice president. I lost that election but as I had another year as communications officer, I just decided to run again the following year and was elected JVP in 2022.
Now and the future
On becoming JVP I was immediately thrown into meetings and discussions with the most senior and important people in the veterinary industry. I had meetings with the BVA and RCVS, attended dinners, conferences and congresses – the list went on. Going from being someone who didn’t even want to be a vet to representing all vet students in the country was mind-blowing.
The reason I think I decided to take on this role was to make the vet school experience better for others than I had it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great run at vet school – but as the phrase goes: ‘leave it better than you found it’. In relation to my experiences, I wanted to make the negative ones better and the positives even better, and the only way to do that is to make your voice heard.
The veterinary industry is small and everyone knows everyone. One amazing coincidence was that the daughter of the BVA JVP was someone I used to play video games with. People knew me (which was a strange feeling) and networking is the best way to get yourself heard and to help make your future.
My favourite part of being involved with AVS has been networking and the opportunities people have given me as a result of this role, and I hope I can make a difference to other students’ lives as they go through vet school and into the future.
I had a small crisis during my earlier student years, which started with extramural studies (EMS). Did I want to be a practising vet? The answer to this question was a definite yes when I joined vet school, but then turned into a no. Maybe I could do non-clinical work? I’m great at policy, I’m great at speaking to people, so maybe I could go into teaching or government work? This route isn’t commonly taken straight out of vet school and I couldn’t find much information about it (I know there’s a shortage of vets, but non-clinical routes should be promoted more – hint, hint, RCVS and vet schools).
Career options open
After a wonderful set of placements at Claremont Veterinary Group in Bexhill and Medivet Potters Bar, however, my thoughts on this changed. Looking to the future, perhaps I can become a vet in practice, but then again, maybe non-clinical work is more up my street. I feel like no matter what I decide, the experience that AVS has given me has opened up options.
It has meant that I have friends and colleagues I can contact for information and advice and for further opportunities. I will always remember the people I’ve met through AVS, which can only be a benefit for the future.
What does my future look like? Maybe I do get to work with penguins after all, maybe I become chief vet, maybe I become a lecturer or maybe I become a small animal vet. Whatever happens, getting involved and just doing it is what’s brought me to this point and will carry me into the future.