Written by Sarah Bergstrom, USC blog contributor
Many USC student-athletes stayed busy in the off-season pursuing a variety of internships. As the fall semester gets started, we'll feature some of the unique experiences several Trojans had this summer.
Name: Zoe Katz
Year: Junior
Sport: Women's Tennis
Internship: Veterinary Care Center
Sarah Bergstrom (SB): What exactly did your internship consist of this summer?
Zoe Katz (ZK): I was working with a lot with animals who had been picked up in neighborhoods, who weren't taken care of or who had lost their owner. Those animals didn't have people taking care of them so they needed the most attention because they would stay overnight. I would feed them, walk them and play with them. At our clinic, the animals that are rescued get the proper medical attention and then they are passed on to a rescue that will try to find them homes. We also had some dogs and cats that have owners and just came in for regular checkups and procedures like at any veterinary clinic.
SB: How did you find this internship? Was it something you had been thinking of doing for awhile?
ZK: I didn't even know what I wanted to do for a job at all before this summer. I started talking to one of my academic advisers about it and about the things I like. Animals were something that kept getting brought up. At first I thought I'd like to be an RVT which is a step above a veterinary technician but below a vet. It sounded tangible to me, but talking to my parents about it I realized if I'm going to try something I really should just go all the way and try to become a vet. I got pretty lucky finding this place. The woman who runs the Veterinary Care Center is a member of my family's tennis club and she helped me get in contact with the head RVT. It's amazing how much you learn just getting dropped in there. I went in knowing nothing and by the end I could do much more than I had ever thought.
SB: What were some of the things you did on a day-to-day basis, or some of the moments that really stand out from your experience?
ZK: Probably one of the most important things I did during my internship was during a surgery. A dog wasn't breathing and I had to help it breathe using a manual resuscitator. On a day-to-day basis, I did all the vitals - respiratory rate, temperature and heart rate - for most of the patients that came in. They taught me how to do that on the first day. I also had to hold down a lot of cats and dogs while they were getting shots or when they were getting IVs. I got to learn a lot just observing and getting to do so much random work. I was really just there to give extra help, but it's tiring because you're on your feet all day long. I was working from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then I'd go train after. It was a long day compared to an office job where you're just sitting in a chair.
SB: What was the coolest thing you learned or witnessed?
ZK: Well surgery was really cool. I got to get really close up to some of the procedures and that was awesome. I think just taking it all in and observing everyone was the best. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong but they would all problem solve really quickly and easily which was really interesting. I thought it was interesting that getting neutered is a really simple surgery. It happens super fast. The vets are just going through surgeries one after another throughout the day. I didn't realize it was like that.
SB: Do you think any characteristic you have as a student-athlete helped you in your internship?
ZK: Yeah it was interesting because there was another college student working there who was super shy, and a lot of times they would ask us if we wanted to try something or watch something new. I'm not sure if it's because I'm an athlete, because I am more willing to try things and not really scared to fail, but I would always say yes before her and would get the opportunity to do more things. I think that comes from playing sports and from being motivated to be better.
SB: Were you worried you couldn't handle the blood or the intensity of a surgical room?
ZK: That's what most people asked me before I started. For someone who loves animals so much, I was pretty scared about seeing abused or even dead animals. On my third day there they had to euthanize a cat. That first time it was really weird for me but you kind of get used to it. Usually it was animals that were old or really sick and so it helps. In the end, it was my job to sort of prepare the animal after euthanization and do the paperwork and at that point you just have to deal with it.
SB: Did you have a favorite animal that came in?
ZK: There was one dog named Otto, he came in and was really scared. He had a hurt leg and because he was so scared, he hated everyone except me somehow. We really bonded, I would walk him every day and by the last day he was there he had become super socialized. I was even able to take him home for one night before he was taken to a rescue the next day.
SB: Was it hard not to get attached to all the animals that you helped?
ZK: It was so hard. I wanted to take every single one home. There were kittens and dogs and every day I would tell my parents, 'Okay, I'm bringing one home.'
SB: When you were a little kid did you always want to be a vet?
ZK: I didn't, which is weird. I liked animals when I was little but even then I think I associated a vet with a doctor and with shots and blood and I didn't want anything to do with that. I probably would have liked something like an animal trainer or zookeeper.
SB: Did your work this summer make the process of becoming a vet seem daunting? Or did it make you more excited about it?
ZK: It definitely made me more excited about it. That's definitely something I want to do. Even if I don't end up becoming a vet, I know now that I definitely want animals in my career. It helped a lot and made it much clearer what I wanted to do.
SB: Did the people you worked with help sort of point you in that direction?
ZK: They were so nice. One of the girls working there printed out all the requirements for vet school so I could see it. You don't need a specific major, you don't need to have specialized in that, you just take classes. Some schools don't have that many pre-requirements, you'd be surprised. You need to also have a certain number of hours in a vet clinic and then it's the same as applying to medical school pretty much. You have a test and interviews and then it's a year-long process. School is three years and then one in a hospital. If you go through two years you automatically become an RVT which is right below a vet. We'll see what I end up doing but I know that this is the right direction for me.
Many USC student-athletes stayed busy in the off-season pursuing a variety of internships. As the fall semester gets started, we'll feature some of the unique experiences several Trojans had this summer.
Name: Zoe Katz
Year: Junior
Sport: Women's Tennis
Internship: Veterinary Care Center
Sarah Bergstrom (SB): What exactly did your internship consist of this summer?
Zoe Katz (ZK): I was working with a lot with animals who had been picked up in neighborhoods, who weren't taken care of or who had lost their owner. Those animals didn't have people taking care of them so they needed the most attention because they would stay overnight. I would feed them, walk them and play with them. At our clinic, the animals that are rescued get the proper medical attention and then they are passed on to a rescue that will try to find them homes. We also had some dogs and cats that have owners and just came in for regular checkups and procedures like at any veterinary clinic.
SB: How did you find this internship? Was it something you had been thinking of doing for awhile?
ZK: I didn't even know what I wanted to do for a job at all before this summer. I started talking to one of my academic advisers about it and about the things I like. Animals were something that kept getting brought up. At first I thought I'd like to be an RVT which is a step above a veterinary technician but below a vet. It sounded tangible to me, but talking to my parents about it I realized if I'm going to try something I really should just go all the way and try to become a vet. I got pretty lucky finding this place. The woman who runs the Veterinary Care Center is a member of my family's tennis club and she helped me get in contact with the head RVT. It's amazing how much you learn just getting dropped in there. I went in knowing nothing and by the end I could do much more than I had ever thought.
SB: What were some of the things you did on a day-to-day basis, or some of the moments that really stand out from your experience?
ZK: Probably one of the most important things I did during my internship was during a surgery. A dog wasn't breathing and I had to help it breathe using a manual resuscitator. On a day-to-day basis, I did all the vitals - respiratory rate, temperature and heart rate - for most of the patients that came in. They taught me how to do that on the first day. I also had to hold down a lot of cats and dogs while they were getting shots or when they were getting IVs. I got to learn a lot just observing and getting to do so much random work. I was really just there to give extra help, but it's tiring because you're on your feet all day long. I was working from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and then I'd go train after. It was a long day compared to an office job where you're just sitting in a chair.
SB: What was the coolest thing you learned or witnessed?
ZK: Well surgery was really cool. I got to get really close up to some of the procedures and that was awesome. I think just taking it all in and observing everyone was the best. There are a lot of little things that can go wrong but they would all problem solve really quickly and easily which was really interesting. I thought it was interesting that getting neutered is a really simple surgery. It happens super fast. The vets are just going through surgeries one after another throughout the day. I didn't realize it was like that.
SB: Do you think any characteristic you have as a student-athlete helped you in your internship?
ZK: Yeah it was interesting because there was another college student working there who was super shy, and a lot of times they would ask us if we wanted to try something or watch something new. I'm not sure if it's because I'm an athlete, because I am more willing to try things and not really scared to fail, but I would always say yes before her and would get the opportunity to do more things. I think that comes from playing sports and from being motivated to be better.
SB: Were you worried you couldn't handle the blood or the intensity of a surgical room?
ZK: That's what most people asked me before I started. For someone who loves animals so much, I was pretty scared about seeing abused or even dead animals. On my third day there they had to euthanize a cat. That first time it was really weird for me but you kind of get used to it. Usually it was animals that were old or really sick and so it helps. In the end, it was my job to sort of prepare the animal after euthanization and do the paperwork and at that point you just have to deal with it.
SB: Did you have a favorite animal that came in?
ZK: There was one dog named Otto, he came in and was really scared. He had a hurt leg and because he was so scared, he hated everyone except me somehow. We really bonded, I would walk him every day and by the last day he was there he had become super socialized. I was even able to take him home for one night before he was taken to a rescue the next day.
SB: Was it hard not to get attached to all the animals that you helped?
ZK: It was so hard. I wanted to take every single one home. There were kittens and dogs and every day I would tell my parents, 'Okay, I'm bringing one home.'
SB: When you were a little kid did you always want to be a vet?
ZK: I didn't, which is weird. I liked animals when I was little but even then I think I associated a vet with a doctor and with shots and blood and I didn't want anything to do with that. I probably would have liked something like an animal trainer or zookeeper.
SB: Did your work this summer make the process of becoming a vet seem daunting? Or did it make you more excited about it?
ZK: It definitely made me more excited about it. That's definitely something I want to do. Even if I don't end up becoming a vet, I know now that I definitely want animals in my career. It helped a lot and made it much clearer what I wanted to do.
SB: Did the people you worked with help sort of point you in that direction?
ZK: They were so nice. One of the girls working there printed out all the requirements for vet school so I could see it. You don't need a specific major, you don't need to have specialized in that, you just take classes. Some schools don't have that many pre-requirements, you'd be surprised. You need to also have a certain number of hours in a vet clinic and then it's the same as applying to medical school pretty much. You have a test and interviews and then it's a year-long process. School is three years and then one in a hospital. If you go through two years you automatically become an RVT which is right below a vet. We'll see what I end up doing but I know that this is the right direction for me.
