I have a life crisis

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I don’t know what to do with myself.

I went to veterinary school with the intention of going into poultry medicine.

During my last year of school, after much personal expense, I discovered that I couldn’t get a job in poultry medicine without an additional degree. Getting the additional degree required moving across country and two more years of student-hood. My finances were not in any kind of shape for that.

Fortunately, I was able to find work with a dog and cat clinic. I’m a bit out of my depth, having focused on the wrong species, but I got enough of the basics from school and the other doctors and staff have been amazingly supportive and patient.

My 3-month performance review came up and my boss asked where I saw myself in a few years. (The review went well)

To be honest, I have no idea what to do with my future, and that wigs me out. For at least the next couple years, we need a solid paycheck and this job is better than many. I don’t mind working with cats and dogs, but I don’t think it’s what I want to do forever.

I’ve found a program where I could get the degree in poultry medicine while working, but it’s dicey. The program is brand new and, being a self-study situation, would require a lot of fussing and cajoling and convincing people to train me. Plus, the added student loans I would need, if I could even get them with my now completely destroyed credit and the state of the economy.

And, I’m not entirely sure what I’d do with it after I got it. That last year in school made it clear that commercial poultry production isn’t just on the decline in this country, it’s in its death throws. It is possible that a degree from the new program wouldn’t carry enough weight to get me one of the few remaining jobs. We could go abroad, but that idea sounds much more romantic when you don’t have mountains of debt, Father Time, and grandchildren-starved parents breathing down your neck. Plus, there are plenty of local vets who wouldn’t have my language barrier.

I could go into government work. The big-picture aspect is similar to poultry medicine, and, Og knows, they need the help. But, I’ve seen good people get chewed up and spat out with the frustration of trying to work inside the system. I don’t know if I have the skull for that brick wall.

I keep reading novels where the main character makes a series of wrong choices and grows old filled with regret.

Maybe I should just stay with the dog and cat place and be grateful that someone is willing to pay me for what little skill I have.

Any one got some sage advice on this?

2

I’m curious, in what country is commercial poultry production in its death throes?

3

In the US.

Agriculture in general is being pushed, mostly by the rising population and the demand for housing developments. Even well-tended poultry farms with the chickens keep indoors still have an odor and large trucks moving in and out on a daily basis. Very few suburban types like living next door to chicken farms for these reasons. They also don’t like living next to the necessary poultry infrastructure, like feed mills, hatcheries, and slaughter houses. Poultry producers also find themselves in competition for supplies like they never had to before.

Add to that the razor-thin profit margin on chicken and eggs, competition from countries with more space and cheaper labor, the largely unwarranted grief they get from animal activist groups, and the fact that it is hard, dirty work, and most US poultry producers have thrown in the towel.

I’ve been to a lot of different farms all over the country and seen a lot of the infrastructure. I’ve also been following the world-wide interest and production trends for a while. Unless you have information to the contrary, Dickerman, I think death throes is a pretty accurate description.

4

I feel for your situation, but I can’t help but see it as a bit comical.

“I don’t want to work with DOGS and CATS. My calling is CHICKENS!”

I’m just happy and amused that the world has people with this kind of dream!

As for your situation, if you don’t like what you are doing, get yourself in a position to do something else. Nobody ever got ahead by settling for less. Is there anything else you are interested in? Maybe you could try the career search activities in “What Color is my Parachute?” They are kind of cheesy, but they helped me narrow down what I’m most interested in. Short of that, I say go for the training program. What’s the worst that could happen?

5

Plus, I wonder where else are poultry farms large enough to employ a full-time, on-site, specialist-degreed veterinary. The poultry-and-rabbits farm in my home town (in Spain) employs several veterinary technicians (that’s a technical high school degree) and a part-time veterinarian. Animals are butchered and checked on-site.

I don’t find it smelly, although it’s situated downwind from the nearest houses as required by law.

What else would you be interested in doing? Is chickens all you ever want to work with? Would you be interested in other birds? Could you get a job in a zoo? If there are any different undergrad courses you would have taken with cats’n’dogs (or cows, or horses, or…) in mind, can you take those individual courses instead of embarking on an additional degree which doesn’t sound like it will be worth the paper it’s printed on?

6

Why not continue where you are for a few years (it sounds like they like you and you like them) and keep an eye on the brand new course and see how it pans out in the industry?

P.S. You don’t have to know where you’ll be in five years time. A lot of the joy of life is the unexpected journeys.

7

The road of life is not straight.

8

Agreed. You are a recent graduate, I assume and new to the working world? You never know how much stress, how much work you can produce under duress and what is the best place for you until you live a few more years. No amount of worrying or agonizing will pave the road for you. Sometimes you just have to walk it and wait till you reach a crossroad which lead you to where you want to go. Even if the place you are at is not what you prefer, you get trained, disciplined and prepared for tougher stuff. You get to know friends, build up your contacts, gain more knowledge about your line of work. Better tough now than later.

Besides, sometimes the experience, bad though it may be, is helpful. Just know when to let go, and move on.

So actually, IMHO you can stay at your current job or go take up the offer to study. None is necessary better than the other, though if you think long-term wise, yah, go for the study.

9

Closed at the request of the OP.

Best wishes to you, Pullet, I hope things work out for you.