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As middle/junior high-schoolers, we all nurture hard-to-define expectations about our future; few professions and career paths are more subject to this necessary lowering of expectations than veterinary medicine.
I grew up on a dairy farm, and have two vets in my extended family, now married to each other for 37 years; my brother was steered toward his career by a veterinarian who advised the local 4-H/FFA, and he was first introduced to his future wife via the State Agricultural Extension Service (a partnership between the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the land-grant state universities, and farm families nationwide, organized on a county-by-county basis).
There have been a lot of ups and downs, and exposure to many sides of "aggie" life in those 38 years, but life has seldom been dull. And I think it has to be emphasized that veterinary candidates -- the majority of whom are now female, are not permitted to avoid the grittier side of the job -- visits to packing plants, or donning a shoulder-length rubber glove and exploring the south end of a northbound horse or dairy cow, for example.
But probably the best upside to this is that a veterinary degree (DVM) opens the door to a wide range of alternatives when the realities don't match up with the dreams and expectations; a vet deals with a wide variety of people in his/her daily life, (that develops yet another set of "soft skills"), And one of the most underrated "side benefits" is the exposure to enough basic life science the to recognize and deal with health issues in tour own family -- early on.
So by all means, let your daughter see as much of real veterinary and agricultural life as soon as seems reasonable. There's nothing wrong with a "farm camp", but I note that you live in Metro Denver -- and I'm sure that there are well-versed USDA offices nearby.
Last edited by 2nd trick op; 04-17-2019 at 09:47 PM..
And yes, I realize that she may do a 180 and end up on a completely different path, but you have to have a plan, even if we know what happens to plans.
Thanks for your help.
JB
Kids at that age can't make informed decisions on a career path. We have a granddaughter that wanted to be a marine biologist. For years she wanted to be a marine biologist. She graduated with a BS in nursing and now works in a NICU.
She is only 11 and at this point has no idea where life will actually take her. She has absolutely no idea that owning a ranch means getting up before daylight to tend to the animals and working 12 to 16 hours a day of hard labor. Then on top of that dealing with all the emergencies in the middle of the night when you have a large ranch with many animals (they have medical emergencies just like people). Then on top of all of that, if she is lucky, she may get to enjoy a mediocre middle income type lifestyle at home but will rarely get to travel or take a real vacation. The point is that at age 11 the ranch life looks all grand on TV and in movies but in the real world it pretty much consumes your life.
Even most students do not graduate from college with the degree they first intended on pursuing. Some discover they actually do not like the field. Some either can't or will not put in the time and effort to pass the classes. Some stumble up on something they really like while taking what originally was supposed to be an elective and they end up taking more in that area and eventually change their major. Even after all of that, they graduate with a degree and then many end up actually working in a completely different field. So college age kids don't know where life will take them......an 11 year old rarely does.
I have an 11 year old daughter who's an animal lover. Aren't they all? She's very smart, talented, and beautiful. Aren't they all?
Anyway, her goal is to have a horse ranch someday, which I can't really help with. I live in Colorado, but I'm originally from NYC, and I wouldn't know a ranch from an iceberg. I won't have the resources to buy a ranch, and my daughter knows that.
I've tried to steer her towards Vet school, thinking that would be make sense, that she could be the vet in a small town or rural area, and that she could buy some land and start her ranch that way. However, she doesn't want to do all the yucky stuff, surgeries, etc.
Any ideas regarding how I can help at this point? My daughter's ok with her dream ranch being in Wyoming, North Dakota, etc. I'm interested in any colleges that offer programs that might steer her on her way. She's been volunteering at a local farm, but there must be more she can do. At this point, I'd say "get a degree in Animal Science or something and an MBA to teach you how to run a farm/ranch."
And yes, I realize that she may do a 180 and end up on a completely different path, but you have to have a plan, even if we know what happens to plans.
Thanks for your help.
JB
You are over parenting. Just help her be an 11 year old child.
Read articles on "snowplow parents", who have replaced the helicopter parents of old. Helicopter parents hovered nearby ready to step in, but snowplow parents bulldoze ahead of the child removing obstacles the way Lori Loughlin did.
If she wants to own a horse ranch, I'd recommend a career in orthodontics, dermatology, patent law, investment banking, etc over a degree in something like animal sciences. Especially if she wants to have the horses without dealing with all the "yucky stuff".
You are over parenting. Just help her be an 11 year old child.
Read articles on "snowplow parents", who have replaced the helicopter parents of old. Helicopter parents hovered nearby ready to step in, but snowplow parents bulldoze ahead of the child removing obstacles the way Lori Loughlin did.
It is actually harder to get into vet school than med school. Unless you know your 11 year old daughter will be outstanding in organic chemistry and medical biology, do not get your or her hopes up.
"Snowplow parents" is a great term! Thanks Listener2307.
agree with the overparenting comment. Let it be. Encourage her to continue exploring and excel at school. I don't have kids but I get asked for parenting advice a lot (Yeah, still figuring that one out). I always tell my friends that to encourage their kids they should just be telling them that they want to keep their options open. The reason you try to do well in school is so you graduate with as many options as possible and don't shut down any career paths for yourself.
I have an 11 year old daughter who's an animal lover. Aren't they all? She's very smart, talented, and beautiful. Aren't they all?
Anyway, her goal is to have a horse ranch someday, which I can't really help with. I live in Colorado, but I'm originally from NYC, and I wouldn't know a ranch from an iceberg. I won't have the resources to buy a ranch, and my daughter knows that.
I've tried to steer her towards Vet school, thinking that would be make sense, that she could be the vet in a small town or rural area, and that she could buy some land and start her ranch that way. However, she doesn't want to do all the yucky stuff, surgeries, etc.
Any ideas regarding how I can help at this point? My daughter's ok with her dream ranch being in Wyoming, North Dakota, etc. I'm interested in any colleges that offer programs that might steer her on her way. She's been volunteering at a local farm, but there must be more she can do. At this point, I'd say "get a degree in Animal Science or something and an MBA to teach you how to run a farm/ranch."
And yes, I realize that she may do a 180 and end up on a completely different path, but you have to have a plan, even if we know what happens to plans.
Thanks for your help.
JB
Well this sounds like something that you don't "jump right into when you're in your 20's" work some, save some, if you can manage to get enough exposure to operations that you can make it your livelihood, entertain a career change in your 30's/40's.
If she wants to get involved earlier, she may be able to work at one as an employee if she doesn't want to wait.
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