How student life in Wroclaw REALLY looks like

No one really explains to you what the life of a vet student actually looks like. Every student experiences it differently, as well as every university operating in different ways. The years/semesters vary a lot, even every day may look quite different. I cannot speak for everyone, but let me give you a walkthrough of how my closest friends and I experience life in vet school. (I’m sure not everyone would agree but this is MY perspective..)

How the different years look like

• 1st year: In one way I guess it’s kind of one of the best and the worst years. Best as in everything is new and exciting, getting new friends and starting a new life - as well as the workload not being as bad (at least as I thought). But again you just moved away from friends and family to a new place, going through the stress of finding out how everything works and where everything is - on top of being stressed about school and grades, as you’re not used to the system.
• 2nd year: “All I’d do to be back in 2nd year” is a commonly heard phrase among 3rd-year students and up. You’re getting used to the place and the system, you’ve found your group of friends, you’ve gotten into a routine and some pretty interesting subjects are coming up. Continuous work is needed but as long as you’re in the flow, 2nd year is a pretty good year overall.
• 3rd year: Also known as “the worst” year at our uni. I guess this is partly due to all the difficult subjects being put into this one year, on top of the amount of work and all the continuous tests and midterms.
• 4th year: A more moderate year with more practicals - finally starting to feel like a vet student!
• 5th year: Similar to 4th year overall. Time to enjoy the last of your student life!
• 6th year: I’m not here yet but apparently, there’s mostly electives and internships - sounds like fun to me!

Holidays

We generally have quite a lot of holidays - which leaves you some time to travel or do other things in between. We usually get around 2 weeks of Christmas break, 2 weeks of semester break and 3 months of summer vacation. Some people even choose to stay in Wroclaw over the holidays - as there’s plenty of fun stuff to do in the city! Besides, if you would like to spend your holidays travelling - it’s fairly easy as Poland is centred in the middle of Europe and has excellent connections through air and on ground. Beware of internships in the summers, though. We’re obliged to do a few weeks of farm practice after the 2nd year, and a month of clinical & 2 weeks of the slaughterhouse after the 4th and 5th year.

Freetime

Getting a few weeks into the first year, I was surprised by the amount of free time I would have in the afternoons. Hearing from former students that all they do is study, I was ready to give up all social life starting vet school (like selling your soul to the devil, I know)! Luckily this is not what vet school actually looked like (at least not all the time..)! If you study well and make notes during classes, you can actually manage to have a lot of your afternoons free to do other things. Over the years I’ve managed to do sports (football, kickboxing), go to the gym daily, and have lots of social arrangements in the afternoons/weekends. I will not sugarcoat it, though, a lot of our afternoons also goes to studying - study dates at Starbucks do not go unknown to any student. Typically people spend their afternoons studying, going for dinners, doing sports, or generally hanging out with friends. On the weekends we sometimes arrange soccer games, and some people might be out for a short trip. Generally, people go out to socialize on the weekends, if they’re not staying in, studying.

Exam season

One of the moments during which we do not have much free time is during "exam season".. Typically we are done with most classes by then, but depending on how much you’ve studied during the semester - you might have to spend some time reading. What does exam season typically look like? You are probably finishing your last subjects right before/among all the exams, and you typically have plus-minus 5-12 tests/exams in a few weeks. You will wake up early to study. You’ll take a few breaks to eat/use the loo, maybe you’ll even squeeze in a workout during the day. Maybe you are lucky and have a study buddy, or you might be a part of the ‘Starbucks squad’. In this period of the semester you will typically read and study from morning to night, and then start again the next morning. These are the examples people refer to when they complain about “Life in vet school”. You will be surprised over how much you can learn in a few weeks! Hopefully, you’ll pass all the tests on the first try, and not go down the domino of failing the next because you were studying for a retake.

Everyday life

Typically you have an increasing difficulty level throughout the semester, where the first few weeks are less stressful. Let me give you an example of what a day in my life might look like: You wake up in a dormitory at 7 am, and grab a quick breakfast. You run downstairs to deliver the keys before you head out the door and get on your bike. You bike through a few roads before you get to a perfect jog/bike pathway going along the river. The sun is coming up on the horizon and you’re looking at the glittery river beside you. On the other side of the path, you’re staring right at a couple of primates running around, among other animals you might see biking next to the zoo. After around 15-20 minutes you arrive outside the clinic. You lock your bike and start chatting with your classmates outside the clinic before you all go in together. You’re up for a lecture in the lecture hall and sit patiently while taking notes as the lecturer is presenting the material with a presentation. After about 1.5 h you are done, and go out for a 15-minute break in the sun with your friends. The next class up is a lab, and you go to the clinic next door. You sit down as the teacher has a quick rundown of the material, before you hit the necropsy room, ready to get your hands dirty. After another hour and a half, you walk out with your classmates and go to the nearest lunch bar for lunch. You’ll go through a buffet of food, picking anything you want and weigh it at the end. You chat about life and studies with your friends for a good 45 minutes, before you head into the main building for a new lab. You walk up the stairs and prepare yourself for a new lab; leaving your jacket downstairs and putting your lab coat on. You enter class with your friends and listen to the teacher talk for another 45 minutes before you start doing a practical experiment with some food/milk. Measuring, waiting, and tasting is sometimes involved in the process. The class eventually finishes and you all spread in different directions. You walk about 10 minutes across the street to a big shopping center, get yourself up to the top floor and hit the gym. After a tiring sesh, you walk right outside and into a new restaurant, where you get your quick dinner. When finishing, you leave the mall, cross the street and enter Starbucks, where you’ll find several of your friends spread around the cafe. You join some friends at the big table and hit the study grind for a couple of hours before getting your bike home. You get a final night snack and chat with your roommates before going to bed, ready for another day that probably looks quite a bit different in form of classes.

Overall I was personally impressed over how much spare time I would still have in vet school. I love having the opportunity to design my days the way I want to, and have room for spontaneous invitations when they pop up, something I never used to have before. I was also impressed by how many holidays we would have, and how much travelling I could do at this time. I think vet school is a very individual experience, and how your mindset works is either going to make or break the overall interpretation.

About the author:

Tina is a 5th-year Norwegian veterinary medicine student combining her drive to get as much practical experience as possible with travelling the world. She shares her stories, knowledge and enthusiasm for the animal world in her social media channels.

You may find Tina’s blog HERE.