My Experiences on a Dairy Farm

A lot of what gets you into vet school (other than your grades) is having lots of volunteer experience and experiences with all kinds of animals. Now I live in a small town where the chances for me to volunteer aren't as plentiful as for those city kids, which at first I thought to be a disadvantage because I wouldn't have as long of a list as they would.. However I found something much better, and have realized that it's not going to come down to who has the longer list of volunteer work, but who came out of it with the most experience.
I volunteer on a farm, with 11 jersey cows that are used for milking, and at first I'll admit that my first thoughts were "cool cows!" and thats about it. I was going to milk cows and that was all, I guess at first you can say I didn't understand what volunteering really truly meant, well that has since all changed. These 11 cows and the man that owns the farm has taught me more about animals in general, and how strong respect goes when it comes to animals and the importance of being the "pack leader" rather it be with a 5 pound dog, or a 1100 pound cow. The relationship between that man, and his cows is actually amazing, it inspires me and has taught me so much.
Before this, I often wondered if me heading into vet school was a good choice for me, like maybe a childhood dream was all it was meant to be, but now I see that no one is "born" to be a vet, vets are formed, shaped and made into the people they are by the experiences they have. I know this is only the beginning for a long long road with lots of more wonderful and I'm sure some not so great experiences.
One very important thing I have learned is that in the world of animals in order for them to respect you, and view you as a person of authority you need to always be calm, never fearful around them, they can sense emotions and what you are feeling and if you're feeling nervous, they'll feel nervous, making them react in ways they never would have had you have been calm and assertive. I learned this from experience because when I was nervous around them, they showed me that they were nervous about me by acting fidgety or anxious whenever I was near, however once I calmed and realized I couldn't judge a book by it's cover and that although they were 1100 pound cows that could crush me, they were gentle giants that wanted nothing more from me but a good ole chin scratch and to give me a few slobbery kisses. Now they get excited when they see me just like your dog when you come home from work, and I brush and scratch each one before milking. :)