Today we’d like to introduce you to Olivia Gilmore
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’m one of those people who have always known what they wanted to do since they were a little kid. I’ll never forget taking my dog to the vet for the first time and being really upset that I wasn’t allowed to go back and help out the veterinary staff! Ever since then, I knew I wanted to be a veterinarian. A few years later, my neighbors let me help them out with the delivery of their dog’s puppies. I was just nine years old at the time, but staying up all night with her in labor, and then getting to hold and nurse one of her new puppies in my hands solidified that this was what I was meant to do with my life. Several years later while taking a gap semester between high school and college, I had the opportunity to work at a reproductive specialty vet clinic, where I found out that there are certain vets who specialize in reproduction, just like a human OB/GYN. I’ve worked there every time I’m back from school, and I have learned so much about this work that has only strengthened my love for the veterinary field. I’ve learned how to handle when things don’t work out like you hope, that it’s ok to make mistakes, and that even the most accomplished people can’t save every patient. However, I’ve probably delivered thousands of puppies, kittens, calves, and foals, between my work at the clinic, my college’s cattle unit, and shadowing an equine veterinarian in Arizona last summer, but I can confidently say that watching a new life come into this world will never get old. Not only do I have a love for animals, but a passion for science as well. I would not have made it through many, many grueling nights in college if it weren’t for that passion and drive. Not only am I an Animal Science major with double minors in Chemistry and Biology at Berry College, but there are also additional prerequisite classes that each student hoping to be accepted to vet school must take on top of their regular course load. As a senior in her last semester, I can say that looking back, there were definitely some classes that were challenging, but they allowed me to be accepted into vet school in the end! I’m so excited to start the next chapter of my life in veterinary school in the fall and reach the last step in this very long, but exciting journey! It’ll be four more years of intense studying and another three year residency after that in order to become board-certified in animal reproduction, but to me, the best dreams are usually the hardest to achieve!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced so far is completing the prerequisite classes of Organic Chemistry and Physics. I had to take a year of each for vet school and because of how my major is structured, I had to take them both at the same time. They are meant to be challenging weed out classes and having professors who didn’t know how to teach them didn’t help. At least when a Biology or Animal Science class was hard, it was a subject that I enjoyed learning about, so I didn’t have to really push myself to study the class material. With these classes, it was challenging to stick to my study regime with very hard classes in subjects that were not interesting to me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am currently a vet tech at a reproductive specialty clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s my job to manage appointments for the doctors, run bloodwork, monitor patients during surgery, educate clients, help deliver puppies, assist the doctors during breedings, etc. I’m really proud of everything I’ve accomplished and learned over the past four years! I know that all of that knowledge will serve me well throughout vet school and in my future career.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
In vet school, it’s really important that every student has a good support system to help get them through. Since I’ll be in classes from 8-5, Monday to Friday, I’ll need help from my friends and family to help take care of my animals, help me with any housekeeping, and help me destress from school.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivgilmore
