North Dakota Dairy Farm

“Growing up on 650 milking cow dairy farm in the middle of North Dakota has put in me not only a love for animals but a need to take care of them, and not only cows but all kinds of animals! My father is responsible for the care of all the cows and my mom is in-charge of the calves so from a very young age I started off holding the bottles of colostrum for the newborn calves, drying them off, giving them their ear-tags, and vaccinations. Then I started doing the calf chores and also diagnosing and treating sick calves. As I grew older, I started helping my dad with the larger heifers and then the milk cows. We have a full-time veterinarian on staff at our dairy so I have helped with down/sick cows, pulled calves, DA surgeries, vaccinations, sorting heifers, and now my dad even promised to help me learn how to detect heat and Artificially Inseminate heifers this summer! But my knowledge of veterinary work is mostly limited to cows. I have some knowledge of dogs and cats like we do their yearly vaccinations, helped neuter a cat, sickness, and injuries. But I would really like to learn more about what a veterinarian does in an actual veterinary clinic. I know it is very different than working on the farm so I would like to be able to see the difference and learn the many ways to take care of all different types of animals...”

This is an excerpt from story and photograph that were submitted by Dawson from North Dakota as part of her entry to the 2017 Become a Veterinarian Camp Contest. We were amazed at the passion our entrants had towards animals and all that they were doing to explore their dream of becoming a veterinarian. We wanted to share these powerful stories with everyone.

We hope that this story and all of the stories posted here in the Community section of Vet Set Go help to motivate everyone to continue to explore their dreams. You will become a veterinarian if you just get out there.

Please share on Vet Set Go. Just become a member and then click the “Submit You Story” button here in the Community Section. You can share a quick story, a photograph, or even a video you have on You Tube. Just share!

Dr. Chris