At this time in the year, many seniors have decided where they will be going to school next year, but few know exactly what they want to study.

However, senior Morgan Darter has known for most of her life that she wanted to be veternarian technitian.

“I’ve wanted to be a tech since as long as I can remember,” Darter said. “I wore scrubs as pjs when I was little, I bought my first stethoscope when I was 12, all of my stuffed animals had vet wrap, and I always loved animals.”

Darter describes being a veternarian technitian as her “dream job.”

“It just seemed perfect that this is an actual job that someone can do and get paid for,” Darter said.

To prepare for her veternarian technitian program at Michigan State University, Darter has logged around 60 hours of shadowing at various clinics and animal hospitals.

Darter has shadowed at College Boulevard Animal Hospital, Blue Pearl Emergency Clinic and Rosehill Animal Hospital.

Michigan State requires a minimum of 80 hours.

“They want you to know what you’re getting into and have experiences you can pull from,” Darter said.

Darter has seen a variety of situations while shadowing.

“I’ve seen a lot of spays and neuters, a goose named Pippin came in once, and a potbelly pig got its toes shaved down,” Darter said.

Among the many different things she has seen, she does have a few favorites.

“I think pregnancy checks are really interesting, and anything with cows is interesting,” Darter said.

Despite all these unique experiences, there are parts of shadowing that Darter does not enjoy.

“[I dont like] all of the standing around,” Darter said. “I really enjoy doing it with people I know, because they know that I can handle things. I can actually be hands on and get involved with it, rather than standing around.”

Shadowing has been beneficial for Darter in many ways.

Not only has she experienced many unique opportunities that will prepare her for school and her career, she has learned more about what she wants in her future job.

“[I’ve learned] that I want to [work with] large and small animals,” Darter said. “ Lots of people do small animals, but I always knew I wanted to do horses too. Working at Rosehill, I got to go see that [large animals].”

After shadowing, Darter looks forward to her career as a tech.

“It’s worth it. It’s going to be amazing to get up and do every day,” Darter said.