Sheila Zapata
Staff Writer
Established in October 2018, The Pre-Veterinary Society at FSC is an organization that brings awareness to the well being of animals. They spread their message through multiple activities and educational conventions to assist future veterinarians on their journey to help out furry companions. Current club president Elisabeth Kranek and member Melissa Rettig have shared their experiences with the club and what they plan to bring to the community this upcoming school year.
First and foremost, this society encourages and helps students get into vet-school. With 11 vet schools present in Florida, and the addition of 33 in the United States, students are able to get a good amount of education and experiences that you might not get at any other school.
They do this by attending certain events outside the school, one being called the Veterinary Meeting & Expo (VMX). A premier veterinary event held annually that showcases advancements in veterinary medicine and provides educational opportunities for veterinary professionals.
Melissa Rettig shares how her personal experiences and her current school work will affect her own career goals.
“I love animals. It’s a base you need for it, you can’t go in hating animals but it’s also a sense that I want to help the animal community,” Rettig said.
Rettig expressed how she would want to work for a smaller vet to become more connected with the pets and the people in that community. She believes that the society truly supports the message they share and the community is more like a family than anything else. It’s a big stepping stone to ease the anxiety of undergrad vet-students when it comes to applying.
“Vet school is harder to get into than med-school only because there are few vet programs compared to medical school,” Rettig said.
Rettig emphasizes the work, responsibility and mental challenge that goes into becoming one.
“Vet school can be very mentally taxing, it takes up a lot of your time that you would need to dedicate everything to vet school, I would say if they go in there and they really really love it then go for it,” Rettig said.
Kranek, a junior biology major on the pre-vet track, highlighted why she joined the society and what it meant to her for her college experience. She joined in her freshmen year as the freshman representative on their executive board and expressed how the members aren’t looking for a future as a vet.
“A lot of the members just share a love for animals and want to learn more about them and they want to gain knowledge that we might not be able to provide, but we can lead them to” Kranek said.
Kranek mentioned that her career goal is to be a small animal vet with a specialization in reproduction. She expressed how much she’s learned in the three years she’s been associated with the society that she wouldn’t get until grad school.
“The society has helped me find so many places that I can get service hours and even jobs that I can get to help me with my goals” Kranek said. She wants to be able to work with breeders and help them make good decisions for their animals because “the animals deserve to live the best lives they can.”
Their first official general body meeting will be Oct. 31, Some events they want to host before fall break is having a guest speaker come to campus and enlightening students with their journey through college and veterinarian school.
They will have a Paint and Sip event where they can hangout, paint some cute and spooky pets together while enjoying fun soda. This will take place in the spring semester, they will return to VMX and bring alumni back to campus to speak to the students.
Students interested in learning more about the club can follow them on Instagram at @fscpvs to be notified for all their events and meetings.
