Hi everybody, I just recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and I'm in the process of applying for the class of 2013 (taking a gap year). I was wondering what advice people who have actually gone to veterinary college have for writing the personal statement. I'm having trouble getting started.

My background in terms of experience with animals are the following:

• Full time volunteering/internship at a domestic small animal clinic
• Internship at a Wildlife Rescue (mostly birds, some small mammals)
• Internship at a marine mammal rescue center (current) - dealing mostly with harbor seals
• Volunteering at an emergency clinic

What I would like to write about is the fact that I feel like I have really developed a deep love and respect for animals through these experiences. I feel like when I first got started I had a really fanciful idea of why I wanted to be a vet, which primarily consisted of "man I love animals so much." However, in retrospect, I realize that this love was rather cursory, sort of the same way you would love a favorite sweater. It was a nice idea, but not substantive enough to really build an entire career around. I have since learned that love is not enough and it never will be. Instead, I have come to realize that I want to be a vet because I respect the life of these animals and want to do my fullest to help them. If I don't try, then I have failed. If I don't become a vet, I can't try to save them. I know I can't save them all, which is the life of animal rehabilitation, but the least I can do is try. At the same time, I respect these animals enough to say that the suffering must end and to pull out the Euthanol when it's necessary. I have also realized that many vets do not have a lot of knowledge about wildlife, so I think my background makes me unique. One of the vets I know actually told me that they didn't teach her very much about birds in school, so she didn't really know much about their care when they came into the emergency clinic.

Not sure if "love and respect" being the basis of my motivation is too frufru...what do you think?