I feel depressed at the thought of leaving vet med behind
I’m currently entering my second year of vet school. I worked my ass off to get into veterinary school, i accumulated over 1000 hours of work experience in high school working in farms, shelters, clinics, zoos and ect… Yet, once I got into vet school despite getting good grades and enjoying the subject… I just feel so discouraged. I feel like im blindly walking towards of pit of despair. Every single vet I have shadowed has told me not to become a vet, and it doesn’t seem to get better in different countries (eg Hong Kong where pay is much higher for vets). I’ve seen a lot of negativity about the career online too. I also feel like once I’m in, there’s no escape from vet med, which scares me.
I feel like I’m not passionate enough, that I don’t deserve to be a vet, I thought about switching fields in order to earn more money or have a better work life balance many, many times. My classmates, on the other hand, look like they are sure of themselves. But, even when I compared the salary, working conditions and working hours of vet med and dentistry, I just can’t seem to convince myself to leave vet med behind, I break down in tears every single time im one step away from switching to dentistry. It feels like im self sabotaging myself by taking away a part of my dream and identity. However, at the same time i love competing in horse riding, painting, archery and travelling frequently, all expensive hobbies that need free time and money.
Im stuck between this constant daily mind battle where imagine my life in both futures and the “what ifs”. Additionally, my family has financial issues so I would like to support them. Has anyone experienced the same, and what did you do in the end?
for more context I’m in France so salaries are no where near as high as that of the US