Wednesday, September 29, 2010

College of Agriculture & Life Sciences Insights: Amber's story

By Amber, a sophomore in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Major: Animal and Poultry Sciences



I am currently a sophomore, enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) at Virginia Tech. My major is Animal and Poultry Sciences with a pre-vet emphasis, for I wish to become a veterinarian. I love being enrolled in CALS for several reasons. For one, it gets me involved in a lot of activities related to animals, for which I have a strong passion. Secondly, it links me to other students who enjoy participating in the same events as me.

By being enrolled in my major, I am able to apply for many volunteer opportunities in subjects that may spark my interest. For example, I applied to work at one of Virginia Tech's horse barns last semester and was actually chosen to help out. I went to the barn twice a week and volunteered my time to take horses in and out of the fields, feed them, clean their stalls,
organize the barn, and administer medicines and supplements when needed. Being a volunteer there opened more doors for me. Now, I work at a horse barns on a regular basis and am getting paid to be around and take care of animals that I love.

This semester I applied again, and am now a volunteer in the research field in the CALS. Currently, I report to the laboratory twice a week for about three or four hours. There I sterilize, wash, and organize equipment, as well as help any of the professors or graduate students with their research projects. With time and involvement, I soon hope to be able to perform my own research.

Were I not enrolled in the CALS, I probably would not have had the opportunity to be involved with animals and research at Virginia Tech. I love learning about animals and the environments that they live in, and if you are anything like me, you too may find that you love the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and feel at home there!


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