Day in the Life: Purdue University’s Floyd Williams.
I am currently a junior student at Purdue University College of Vet Med. I graduate in May of 2022. My two favorite courses are veterinary skills and competencies and junior surgery lab. I really enjoy performing surgeries and I appreciate the hands on aspect of these courses. I get to apply and practice my skills.
The absolute best part of vet school are my classmates. Being around so many like-minded people from so many different places and being able to converge on our love and appreciation for animals is an amazing feeling.
The worst part of vet school is being so far away from my family and missing out on family. I try to keep in touch, but, after all the studying, classes, and clinic work, we just don’t have a lot of free time. I stay positive by reminding myself that its temporary and that I’m here due to the abundant love and support of my family. I am also an army brat and so family is used to coping with distance and we still make it work.
How I see my future:
After vet school, I plan to apply for an Emergency and Critical Care Residency. I love surgery and the fast paced environment of the ER. I also have a deep seeded love for exotic medicine and I plan to spend time each year working with conservation medicine through evidence based research and data collection.
How I spent my days before the pandemic
My morning routine:
I live off campus with three of my classmates in a townhouse. We are about 15 minutes from Lynn Hall (Purdue CVM). I am an early riser (another trait of the Army Brat) and wake up at 5:45am every morning. I usually eat a granola bar and a healthy breakfast protein shake.
I’m a huge fan of slow, calm, and chill mornings so I immediately feed my roommates cat, Yeti, so he can stop meowing. Yeti is essentially my daily wake up call. Then I return to my room for a meditation session. I began meditating daily after my first year in vet school, I enjoy it because it helps me self-reflect and let my mind wonder.
I then make my way to vet school by 7am and begin pre-lecture prep. Sometimes we have quizzes, so I spend time prepping for those and reading lecture notes from previous classes. Then I spend the rest of the morning in lecture halls.
Lunchtime:
After morning lectures, we have a 1-hour lunch break most days before afternoon lab or more lectures.
I typically eat something light and fast for lunch so that I don’t become overly sluggish or tired in the afternoon. So maybe a sandwich/wrap and fruit for lunch. Sometimes I bring my lunch and other times I will pick up food in the cafeteria.
During lunch, my friends and I eat together in a lounge and tell lame dad jokes. My favorite dad joke is "Why couldn't the bicycle stand up by itself? It was two tired." Making each other laugh helps us escape for a moment.
Afternoon:
After lunch we go back to lectures and labs. I would typically go home around 5pm. When I get home, the hardest thing for me to do is to stay productive after being productive all day. So, I allow myself to have 2.5 hours each evening to do whatever I want, that means a powernap, catching up on Chicago Med or Greys Anatomy. Destressing helps me have the energy to finish out the evening with intense studying.
Dinner:
If I hadn’t already meal prepped, I will make soup or ravioli. I eat dinner with my roomates and we talk about the crazy moments of the day. I’ve been blessed to live with great roommates who have become my closest friends.
I usually resume studying, or SAVMA responsibilities until midnight and I crash.
Weekends:
I live for the weekends! Before COVID, on the weekends I would go out with my friends to a bar or restaurant in the evening. During the day, I liked to explore hiking spots. We would darty (day party), grill or go to Harry’s for drinks. If you ever visit West Lafayette, you have to visit Harry’s chocolate shop. Also, Thursday nights at Purdue are known as “cactus nights; and we go to the local dance bar to have fun and vibe as a cohort.
I am very outdoorsy so you can find me most of the time outside hiking, fishing, or just enjoying nature. I recently obtained my Scuba Diving certification so that will without a doubt become my hobby.
I’m single, but I’m single and not really in the mingle. I want to have a legit bond and friendship before jumping into a relationship.
What are the biggest problems facing our profession?
Veterinary medicine is too expensive, we need to provide affordable and accessible care to all pet owners. While I understand that we need to respect our worth, it is important to understand that by having higher prices we are now shutting out an entire population of clients and their animals. It is incredibly disheartening to witness a family’s inability to afford veterinary care. This world needs more Kindness.
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