Zebra Stripes

School is insanely well under way. We are only 3 weeks into the semester, bout we are already prepping for tests and learning voluminous quantities of difficult, thought-provoking material. Sadly, several very intelligent people in my major are thinking about switching to an easier major because they are burning out on science three semesters through their college educations.

I know I already feel the need for a break, although thankfully I got a decent reprieve in the form of a 4-day weekend over Labor Day. I don't understand why educational facilities feel such a need to push their students so hard. To get into vet school, I need to have 1000 hours of animal contact (easy), 1000 hours of veterinary contact (moderately difficult), perfect grades (impossible - I lost my 4 first semester), tons of volunteer work (easy), and a job to prove that I can juggle school and work. Now, that wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't taking 3-4 science classes with labs each semester, but I have to prove that I can handle the load that I will take on in vet school (21+ credits of science).

My take: I worked my butt off in high school to form good study habits and get into a good school, where I am required to work my ass off to got into vet school. From there, although I no longer need to worry about grades for school, I have to worry about class standings for internships. Once I graduate, I can spend the rest of my life working to pay off school debts and make a comfortable life for myself. So, where does the living part fit into that?

I happily decided to try an insy bit less hard in school, accept a 3.5, and have a life. Besides, admissions are all about who you know. right? I guess I'll find out in 2 1/2 years if I'm making a huge mistake. In the mean time, I'd like to know why we push perfection so strongly, and why our society is centered around all work and no play.