By Ben Daggett (University of Vermont ’15)
“…and then I studied abroad in Botswana with Round River Conservation Studies during my junior year.” Soon after my statement, I watched both of my interviewer’s pencils start flying across their papers as they started scribbling notes. If I hadn’t peaked their interest yet, I just did.
“How long were you there?” One of them asked me.
Grinning, I responded with, “Not long enough.” (That is my canned answer that I keep at the ready for the multitude of people that ask me this question).
After fielding a few laughs, I continued with “I was there for the Fall 2013 semester, so about 3 months. I feel like it went by quite fast. Yet strangely, I also feel as though I never left.”
My interviewers smiled at my latter comment, mainly in recognition of an attribute that cannot be convincingly faked: passion. And it really is true for me; my semester with Round River tested and confirmed my passion for conservation.
The best part of this dialogue is that all of it is true. I still feel as though I just walked off the plane in Portland, Maine in December 2013 after flying 16 hours from Southern Africa after a semester spent in the Botswana bush. It has been more than 1 year since that date. Spiritual feelings aside, all of this has benefitted me greatly during my veterinary school interview process. At every interview I attended, my Round River experiences were brought up. And once that door was opened, I was able to tell my interviewers all of the lessons I learned with Round River and how they relate to my goals within veterinary medicine.
Even better; every interviewer ate it up. Bigtime.
While traditional clinical, research, and biomedical experience is essential for veterinary school admission, there are many other experiences that improve an application. An understanding of One Health – the interconnected health of humans, animals, and the environment – is highly beneficial for any pre-veterinary student to gain. This broad understanding of health is something that veterinary, medical, and other graduate programs are looking for in applicants.
I feel that Round River’s approach to conservation education is one that fully encompasses this “big picture.” When I was in Botswana, I saw that conservation is not just about natural science; it is about understanding the interactions between humans, animals, and the environment. Round River’s program allowed me to find my niche within these complex connections and learn how to foster my individual passions in ways that will someday benefit the field.
For those of you that don’t know, veterinary school admissions are generally considered competitive. For those of us that do know, veterinary school admissions are accurately considered extremely competitive. I’ll spare you the statistics, as they can be easily found on any veterinary school’s website. The point is that when you are facing odds like this, you need every advantage you can get your hands on.
My experience with Round River was one of the aces I had in my hand for the admissions process, and I know that it made my application unique. I had offers of admission from US and Canadian schools, and recently decided I will attend Cornell University’s Veterinary School this Fall.
I am humbled to actually have choices during this process, and I feel that these choices would not exist for me without the experiences I gained with the people of Botswana and the members of my Round River study abroad group.
