Who am I?
Hi! My name is Tina, and I'm a Norwegian vet who studied at Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Poland.
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Growing up I always had a love for animals and sports. I've tried almost every sport at one point. These days I do a variety of sports like tennis, kickboxing, horse riding, football, and roller skating. One of my best friends growing up was one of my pet rabbits, named Buddy. My passion for animals started early, even though it was never a strong thought of mine to become a veterinarian until much later.
I started riding horses when I was around 9 years old. Around the age of 13 I got my first pony (an experienced older mare, New Forrest). We competed mainly in showjumping for about 3 years, until I had to get a bigger horse to be able to keep competing (you can only compete in pony classes until you're 16 in Norway). I went to Ireland and bought a h*ll of a jumping machine (Tullahenin Quality, the young star on the photo). We competed for a few years until I had to sell due to my military service (1 year). My love and understanding for animals kept growing, and I've in later times helped a lot of people with training their horses.
Why did I decide to study vet med?
I always had a love for the more science related subjects at school; biology, math, and gym as top 3. Let me be the first to admit - my future was black. I had no idea what it could even look like; which led me to joining the navy. My plan was to apply to work as a medic. Though when i got there, I found out that I could spend my days working with military dogs, K9.
I was at a crossroad: Should I apply for what I was planning to do? The choice that would give the most money (human doctor)? The one I could always get use for later in life and brag about? Or should I follow my heart, and do what I really wanted to do? The choice my heart desires, and motivation arises? Not sure where the thought came from that I couldn't combine my hobbies/lifestyle with my work. That was the moment I realized, not just for my path in the military, but for life in general. I want to be a vet.
Travels
After finishing my year in the military, I took a gap year to work, do my chemistry courses and to travel. That's where my travel addiction started; my first volunteer trip to Namibia. I've since then volunteered with wild animals in other countries (Thailand, Zimbabwe, South Africa), and been on every continent except South America (yet) and Antarctica.
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My first solo travel was actually not that far of a trip, but a long weekend three hours from the city where I study (I went to Krakow). I asked all my friends if anyone wanted to join, but that friend was MIA. I decided that life's too short. You're going to miss out on great things by the fear of being alone for a bit. In fact I was not alone for a second after arriving at the hostel - that's the beauty of solo travels!
For more info on this, read my blog posts "How can I travel so much?" and "Solo travel".
What is the aim with my social media appearance?
My aim is to function as a support, inspiration and as a source of resources for vets and vet students around the world. After I started sharing more on my social media, I've gotten very positive feedback where people are saying things like "I'm getting so inspired by your page! I'm really gonna turn my life around for the better" and "I always learn something at your page!" - These are things that fulfills me a lot.
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I have many goals for my social media appearance. One of them is to stand as a source for young students wanting to apply for vet school. The process is long and tricky, and if I could shorten than process for someone in any way, that would be my purpose!
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We've made it into such a wonderful and giving profession, but still we have one of the highest suicide rates. My aim is to break the stigma, and remind you to take care of yourself and your own health. If you're not happy where you are working, maybe you're just in the wrong clinic? Or the wrong speciality? There are so many different paths to go as a vet - and everyone deserves to thrive at what they are doing. If I could inspire someone to get into the right direction - that's another goal right there.
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Lastly I'm happy to be in a position where I'm able to share with you some great vet-related educational resources. Please sign up for my NEWSLETTER to get exclusive discounts on books, courses and much more! (It is of course for free to sign up.)
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“Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss,
you'll land among the stars”
If you have any further questions, feel free to check out an interview I did with a Russian organization (@vet_workshop on ig) about life as a vet student, my uni in Wroclaw, social media appearance as a veterinarian and much more!