I thought I wanted to be a doctor more than anything. I’m in the College of Human Ecology, I’m Pre-Med, and I love the Global Health Minor. I’m passionate about helping people, I find science so intriguing, I love biology, and medicine is an incredibly dynamic and interesting field. I want to travel and change public and global health policies, I want to engage in medical journalism, and I want to work with children and save lives.

But I want to be a veterinarian. And I feel like I’m needed more there, because who ever gives a damn about the animals? I want to travel and work on conservation projects for endangered species. I want to revolutionize the way humans perceive animals. I want to rehabilitate injured wild animals and I want to save dogs. 

I want to do animal therapy, which combines both by using dogs as therapy for disabled humans. I think it’s an incredible idea; provide a disabled human with a loyal, unwavering companion who will not only serve as basic support in terms of guiding and protecting but who will also provide unconditional love and friendship. The dog benefits, too, by being paired with a human who will love him / her to the moon and back.

I think, more than anything, I want to do things abroad. I really really really want to save the endangered big game species, and unfortunately I can’t work on saving their habitats and names too well from suburban New York. But….I can’t turn elephant conservation in Africa into a long-term job. Because most of all, actually, I want a family, and how can I settle down with a husband and children and still accomplish what I want to do?

A friend said something brilliant to me the other day. I asked him what he wants to do with his life and he simply responded in his awkward, low monotone: “I want….to be revolutionary.”

I just don’t know if I want to be a doctor or a veterinarian more. What do I like more, people or animals? Who needs me more? In what field can I be of more use? About which am I more passionate? Where do I see myself in twenty years? Why are these questions so difficult to answer?