Do you really need high motivation to get through school? I've been looking through sdn and saw posters that believed to get through vet school you need the mindset that vetmed is all you can see yourself doing, otherwise another career is a better way to go. I applied to vetmed while I was depressed, and chose vetmed partially because working at vet clinics with animals was meaningful to me and brought me some happiness. But my depression has improved since then and I can see myself happy in other fields. I see vetmed as a very satisfactory career choice. I have motivation, but not to the point where I see vetmed as a true "calling."
Dovelover's post made me consider the fact that I have been depressed to the point of suicidal thoughts before. If I really fall downhill for some reason professional school with severe depression can't be a good combination. If I build free time into my schedule, which sounds very possible, I think I could get through. But is my motivation less than most vet students?
sorry for all the questions and concerns. Hearing from others helps give me different perspectives. Thank you for all the help.
People get into vet med for different reasons. I think what a lot of those other posts you've seen were getting at is that vet med is not a career you do unless you have a passion for it. It doesn't have to be your only passion, but I'd imagine there is some reason why you chose it over the other options (and I'm assuming it wasn't good money or flexible hours). A lot of people decide they want to be vets at a young age, so they never really consider doing anything else, so it is their "calling." I went into vet med because it was a comfortable field for me. I liked the idea of professional school because it is very structured and had a clear end goal... and I was feeling very lost and confused at the point when I was choosing what career path to put myself on. I liked medicine, but sick people grossed me out. So my choice to go into vet med was really a logical one, and I did consider other career paths at various points in time. But that doesn't mean I'm not passionate about the field. I think the question for you is, is there another career you see yourself happier in than vet med, or is it just a feeling of "X career is easier and I think I'd be happy doing that too." You also have to consider whether what you're feeling right now are true doubts, or if you're just experiencing the oh so common cold feet phenomenon.
If you do think you're making a mistake by going into vet med, now's the time to get out (although I'd recommend deferring rather than outright quitting at this point, just to make sure)
So, I wrote a long philosophical paragraph about motivation before deciding it was over the top. Basically, you won't feel 100% motivated all the time. In fact, it will be a rare occurrence. As long as you have something driving you to find that motivation when you need to and encouraging you to keep going when the going get's tough, you'll be alright. I guess I never really thought that hard before school started about being able to motivate myself in school (I was more worried about making friends than about the workload, unlike every other single person in my orientation group), so I may not be the best person to say, it all works itself out. But I feel like it mostly does. If you really want to be a vet, even if it's not your lifelong calling only thing you could imagine yourself doing dream job, chances are pretty good you'll find something that drives you through school. It may be the little things, like getting good grades, feeling like you learned a lot after volunteering at a clinic, successfully doing (insert basic technical skill here) for the first time. I think the closer you get to earning your DVM, the easier it is to find the idea of becoming a vet as motivation to get through school.
And this still wound up being kinda long. Oh well.
As for your last concern, I'm not really sure I can say much. All you can really do is take a serious personal inventory of how you feel now, what your triggers have been in the past, and use that to make your best prediction of how vet school will affect you. And it's just another reason why you really need to have a good support system in place, including someone at school who knows what's going on. You you should really know what your options are (ie, medical leave, where to find counselors or doctors), before you find yourself in a situation when you think you might need to use them.
Best of luck with all the serious thinking you have ahead of you!
