u/EmbarrassedBar7518

I’m considering transferring to a school in california and humboldt checks a lot of my boxes. I’m concerned about how isolating/lonely it seems up there. I hate small towns but every small town i’ve lived in had nothing to do and no one to meet. The outdoor rec seems amazing and is one of the things that drew me. So I know that I wouldn’t be too bored there (especially because i’d be a biochem major and would have to study a lot). But i’m also worried about how lonely/ remote it is.

I’ve been in the vet field for about three years on and off as a vet assistant. Overtime, I have become hyper vigilant around animals. It was fine when I first started working but then overtime I had to deal with aggressive pets and even got bit pretty bad by a cat. Now, I just feel this anxiety if the pet doesn’t look friendly or has a history with aggression behavior. I know that most are harmless and even if they’re aggressive I can still set precautions, but I still feel a bit of panic. I love working in vet med and with animals and want to continue but wanted to seek advice on how I can feel safer for myself and for the animals.

I’m looking to transfer Fall 2027 from my CC and was considering CSUMB. One thing i’m worried about is making friends, I’d say i’m not too introverted. It’s really important for me to find good friends and even a friend group. I know there’s events for transfers and I plan on attending all of those. I also plan on doing outdoor recreation, clubs, etc. I heard about the scuba diving classes which i’ll definitely be taking.

I feel like most vets are unhappy with their decision to pursue vet med. And that the debt is soul ruining. Everyone online is always talking about their regrets and how unhappy they are bc of it. Honestly, this makes me feel really distressed abt pursing vet school. I can’t find anything else I’d rather do than being a vet. Everytime I explore other careers I could possibly enjoy i always find myself back to wanting to be a vet. I have considered PA school- I think it could be good career (psych or neuro) but not as fulfilling. I would also hate to live the rest of my life with the constant thought of “what if?”. I have experience in vet med as a tech while working on my bachelors and I can’t stick to a job that isn’t in a vet clinic. I’ve researched ways I could pay off debt school such as the military but don’t qualify. The BBB is throwing me off a lot too since there’s now a cap to what you can loan. I do want to pursue wildlife medicine, but plan on doing emergency for several years to help pay off debt. Anyways, I am just looking for support and perspective on people who have been through vet school. I’d love to hear thoughts from multiple perspectives. thank you

i already know what i’m gonna do once i get to san diego just what to check out places along the way. i’m looking for places to check out other than the national parks. like hidden gems, art museums, statues,etc.

i feel like i’ve been this forever and its made me wonder why even if i know im bisexual/lesbian

I’m not really sure how to word this, so I’ll just explain it as honestly as I can.

I’m 20F, I grew up mostly doing okay socially. In elementary and middle school I had friend groups and could make friends pretty normally despite my depression and anxiety kickstarting around 1. But in high school everything kind of fell apart.

I went through years of being in and out of mental hospitals, severe depression, anxiety, and SI. I had to drop out of school because of how bad it was and ended up getting my GED.
I have a lot of trauma from my family, and my home life was not stable at all. I grew up with 5 siblings(they were either always angry or sad), my mom wasn’t really there emotionally and my dad was always yelling/criticizing/threatening/ beating me up. I haven’t had friends in a long time. I moved from Utah to California for a couple months for transitional living (aka mental health sober living for non-addicts) and had never been happier, for the first time in my life I considered myself to be content. I had friends and even made a best friend and then I had to move back home (I plan to go back soon). I don’t talk to any of them anymore. My sister even seemed jealous and angry about how healthy and happy i looked. It wasn’t like friendships where we trauma dumped it was more of fun friendships with occasional deep conversations. Besides that I haven’t had friends in 5 years.

Because of that, my “normal” experience of life is very different from most people my age. When I try to make friends now, I struggle a lot with what I’m supposed to talk about.

It’s not exactly that I’m “oversharing on purpose.” It’s more that my baseline is just different. Like when people talk casually about things like family vacations or growing up, I can respond too, but my experiences are often more dysfunctional or heavy. So even when I’m just speaking normally about my life, it can come across as intense or uncomfortable compared to what others are used to hearing in casual conversation. Maybe it’s because I live too close to my dysfunctional family? Cause in Cali I was my own person with my own life, not thinking about my family.

Because of that, I’ve kind of learned to stop talking about my family and try to pretend I don’t have depression or anxiety. But then I’m left wondering… what do I even talk about instead? I also have this big insecurity that i’m weird but have been trying to tell myself everyone loves Alex Cosani and Lady Gaga and they are pretty weird. I don’t think i’m a disturbing weird more like a wacky weird. I’ve also realized that I have had trouble initiating things which also plays a part but i’m working on it.

I also want to add that I know deep down this isn’t all of me. Before everything got really bad, I was actually goofy, outgoing, and pretty social. I’ve had moments where that side of me comes out (like in cali), so I know it’s still there. It just feels like it got buried under everything I went through, and I don’t fully know how to access it again in social situations. For years I felt like a collection of everyone’s pain and now that I’m older I’m tryna figure myself out without that. As i grew up i learned to view friendships/relationships as exhausting bc i’m so used to giving and giving and giving to my family. I always go the extra mile to give to them without getting anything back. As i’m getting older i’m starting to realize the causes of this. At the end of the day i’m already so exhausted that going to a club or event seems like a marathon plus my social anxiety is really bad.

I want to have healthy friendships and a normal social life, but I don’t really know how to do that without either feeling like I’m hiding huge parts of myself or accidentally ending up in conversations that feel “too heavy” for early friendship stages. There’s nothing more that I want than a friend group. I also don’t really know how people build close friendships in a stable way because I missed a lot of that during those years. I spend my birthdays completely alone while my twin sister is on trips with a huge friend group. People have reached out to me like at work or school and I can tell they want to get to know me more but I push back bc I’m afraid they’ll find out who I am. It’s not just the loneliness, what i’ve enjoyed most about making friends is getting to know the person and the amazing qualities in them.

I guess my questions are:

How do you make friends as an adult when your past is kind of heavy or complicated?
What do people usually talk about when they’re getting to know each other?
How do you build close friendships without either feeling fake or unintentionally making things too intense too early?

Any advice or perspectives would really help. I just feel a bit behind socially and I’m trying to figure it out. I’m sorry if that was all too much but I appreciate everyone who has read a little of my story.

I'm trying to get into reading but i just can't seem to enjoy it- i'm looking for books i'll actually be interested and enjoy and not having to force myself to keep reading. here are some bullet points i'm looking for:

-I loved Aristotle and Dante, I'll give u the sun, and the Alchemist.
-i loved the aesthetic (artsy, lyrical, sunlit, introspective, light hearted) and the story.
-I love books with aesthetic!
-i want something INTERESTING but not super emotional like grief or death.
-i'm open to romance but not so intense/ obsessive and spicy( a little spice is fine).
-With romance i like wlw, wistful, soul-deep, innocent/wholesome (am open to some sprice).
-I hate books like the love hypothesis or emily henry.
-i want the character to have a specific personality and well-rounded. (not completely defined by the love interest)

if u have any recommendations could u give me a brief summary of the book and the aesthetic, maybe with like emojis?

THANKS !!!

I’ve been to two OB-GYNs, and both times they basically just handed me birth control and sent me on my way. Birth control has only made my symptoms worse. The biggest PCOS symptom I struggle with is insulin resistance. I’m wondering if anyone with PCOS has had a good experience with their OB-GYN and been prescribed metformin or recommended inositol. What was your experience like, and did it help?

i really need honest advice from people in vet med because I feel like I’m spiraling trying to understand all the different paths and I don’t know what’s realistic anymore.

I want to become a veterinarian, but the more I research the path, the more overwhelming and discouraging it feels. Being a veterinarian is everything I want in life, I can’t imagine myself doing something else- i love veterinary medicine. I don’t want to be a vet tech long term bc I want some financial freedom.

Right now I’m very early in college (about 35 credits done). The traditional U.S. path looks like:
~4 years of undergrad with a high GPA requirement
vet experience hours while also working part-time
extremely competitive vet school admissions
4 years of vet school
then licensing exams + huge debt

What’s really scaring me is how competitive it is. I work with vet techs and I’ve seen people get rejected from vet school even with really strong stats. One coworker had a 3.9 GPA and a lot of vet tech experience and still didn’t get in. Another had a master’s degree and experience and also got rejected. That really messed with my head because it made me realize that even doing everything “right” doesn’t guarantee anything. Plus I’ve never been the type to get straight A’s.

Another thing I’m struggling with is the idea of sacrificing my quality of life for years to try to be competitive. I’m worried about putting myself under constant stress-trying to maintain a high GPA, getting experience, working part-time and then potentially getting rejected anyway. As u can probably tell i already deal with anxiety and depression. It makes me feel like I could put myself through all of that for nothing.

overall worries:

-the uncertainty (even doing everything “right” doesn’t guarantee acceptance)
-the constant pressure for years (GPA + work + experience simultaneously)
-the fear of sacrificing my quality of life for years and potentially not getting in anyway
-and the financial burden of vet school debt

I also heard about recent political/financial changes affecting student loan options (I may be misunderstanding this), but it added to my anxiety about how I would even fund vet school in the U.S.

Because of all of that, I started seriously considering studying veterinary medicine abroad instead.

My understanding (please correct me if I’m wrong) is that I could potentially:

-go to vet school in another country (like Spain or the UK, or possibly other European countries)
-potentially avoid the full U.S. undergrad route or reduce it
-directly earn a veterinary degree (DVM equivalent) abroad
-then return to the U.S. and become licensed through the ECFVG pathway (Educational Commission for Foreign Veterinary Graduates)
- i’ve always wanted to study abroad and have a EU citizenship

My idea was also that while I’m studying abroad, I might be able to:

-work in veterinary clinics in the country I study in (once allowed/after licensing there)
-so I’m not just “waiting around” during the ECFVG process
-and ideally still build experience and earn income while progressing toward licensure

But I’m also confused about whether this is realistic or just adding more complexity. Ik it takes 1-2 years to do the ECFVG which i’m content with. But I’ve heard stories online of people taking more than 1-2 years for being licensed in the US. like i heard it can be like 3+ years.

I’ve also been trying to compare countries in terms of:

tuition cost
quality of veterinary education
how similar the system is to the U.S.
and whether vets actually earn a livable wage relative to cost of living

So I’m struggling to figure out if any path actually makes financial sense.

On top of that, I’m worried about burnout. The idea of years of:

GPA pressure
working part-time
vet experience hours
constant competition
-If feels mentally exhausting already, and I haven’t even started the main part of the journey.

So I guess my questions are:

Is going abroad for vet school (Spain/Hungary/etc.) actually a smart way to reduce the undergrad burden, or does ECFVG make it too complicated or unattainable anyway?
While doing ECFVG, is it realistic to work as a vet in the country where you got your degree, or are you usually stuck in assistant/tech roles until licensing is complete?
And overall, is it normal to feel this discouraged this early, or is that a sign this path might not be realistic for me?

I’m not trying to be negative. I just want brutally honest input from people who actually understand the system because right now I feel like I’m trying to plan a path that might not even make sense financially or mentally. I feel like I’ve wanted to be a vet so long and i’ve taken it a bit too serious too early that i’m already a little burnt out.

i have a foster kitten that is a little over a week old and fell 3-4 feet about 9hrs ago. i feel so bad and terrible i don’t know what to do. im so scared i ruined his life. i looked away for a second when he was in his bed and didn’t expect him to move too fast. he seems to be doing fine. when it first happened i counted his resp rate to be 60 and now it’s gonna down to 30-35. he’s also latching and eating well. he’s able to walk/crawl around but seems a bit wobbly in his back legs but i’m not sure if im imagining that or it’s a kitten thing. he is also seeking warmth well. i feel sick to my stomach i cant believe i was so ignorant.

Given his age and the fall, would you recommend immediate vet evaluation, or is close at-home monitoring good as long as he continues nursing well and doesn’t worsen? i have some vet tech experience so i kinda know what to look out for

I’m mainly trying to distinguish normal neonatal uncoordination from early subtle neurologic injury.

I don’t know what to do. i appreciate any input.

i was wondering if there’s anyone in this page i can go to for help and guidance since this is the first time I’m caring for neonatal kittens. i have 3 kittens that are 1 week old. i’m having trouble with just what the norms are especially with feeding. i’d appreciate any help, thanks guys!