I am currently a junior in high school, and plan to go to vet tech school after graduating from high school in 2004.

I work the kennels at a busy small and large animal clinic in Lexington, Virginia. Some days I work full time, and some days I work just either the morning routine or the afternoon routine. There are four of us who work kennel management.

On days I work full time, I have to be there at 6:45 am to open the clinic and get the dogs walked and fed. After taking care of the dogs, I go over to the cat kennels and change their cages and feed them fresh food and water. I always make sure that they have the kind of food they need to eat.

Afterwards, I sweep and mop the kennel floors, and always keep loads of laundry washed/dried throughout the busy day. We close at 12 noon for lunch, and then open back at 1:00 p.m. and close at 6:00. My normal work days usually end around 6:30 when I get finished.

This job has helped me experience a lot of what I will be doing with my job as a veterinary technician. I encourage anyone who wants to work in the veterinary field and has not yet graduated from high school to get a job working the kennels and/or assisting veterinarians at a local animal hospital near you. It will help out a lot in the "long run."