WHY VET STUDENTS ARE SNOOTY

by Jill Hendsbee

I have vowed to write news from the AVC this term that is a little meatier than last term. This isa topic I have been waiting to comment on for some time now.

It became apparent to me very quickly after my admission to the AVC how the majority of the campus felt about vet students. In short, we are stuck up snobs. Ofcourse, when I first became aware of this opinion, I wanted to dispute it; to stand up for myself and tell everyone who would listen that it wasn’t true. I cer- tainly understand where an idea like this could originate. We don’t seem tosocialize with anyone other than our- selves. This is more or less the case, but has anyone ever thought about why? Many jump to the conclusion that it’s simply because we believe our- selves too good to _ bother with anyone else,

that we consider ourselves an elite crowd.

I suggest instead that the

real reason is this- we

come here from

many different provinces

and states, often not

knowing anyone else

here. (This in contrast to

the 80% of UPEI students who come from the - Island). Very few choose

to live in residence as many

are entering

tee PERS:

their 4th, Sth or greater year of university and have had their fill

of residence life. We are introduced to ONE building on campus, which we almost never leave for academic purposes. It’s

practically like elementary school, everyone has their own desk and

we stay in the same room for most of the day. We don’t get to mix

with a different group of people each class, like many programs on campus. So bottom line, our opportunities to meet people other than

our classmates at AVC are limited. These are the major reasons I cite

for our seemingly snooty behavior.

I clung to these as the sole explaination for our reputation fora long time, but I was naive. I’m in my third year now, and I have witnessed incidents that made me realize some people’s feelings were not as unfounded as I thought. For example, the day that a classmate asked a roomful of students working on papers at the AVC computer lab

to leave because some

AVC students wanted to use the computers and they had priority. Now, there is a sign to that effect hanging in

the big lab, though few people I know would actually have the nerve

se Hae ee ese

to ask another person to leave unless they were playing solitaire or something. The thing that really bothered me on that day was that

the AVC students who suddenly needed to use the lab were just passing by between classes to check their email. The person who stood up and made the announcement was not even among them, she was already in the

lab. This person was obviously looking for an excuse to throw her weight around. That is just outright snobbery. I won’t argue that-

I would just ask that you don’t let incidents like this taint your opinion of every vet student. For awhile, I got so paranoid about how

people felt about AVC that when I finally did start

meeting other

people and they asked what I did, I’d only say “T’m still in school.”

This would invariably bring the reply, “At UPEI?” and I would

simply answer yes. Only after being asked what I was taking would I

admit to going to the AVC. I’mactually very proud to be at AVC.

It’s not an easy place to get into and I worked had to arrive where I

am, but certainly don’t think that places me above those who have

choosen to study in an- other field. So, in the spirit of that shampoo commercial that asks “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful”, I say “Don’t hate me because I’m a vet student.”

oO

SLOW BURNING

THE CADRE

COMBUSTION LENTE € s| 44

AUTCORNERS COINS COUPEZ

+ + Rte wes

Smweo'venm=zis