Laura Pelzel

The first time I realized I wanted to be a veterinarian, I was in high school shadowing at the local vet clinic in rural southern Minnesota. I knew I loved medicine as my whole family was in the medical field, but I had a passion for animals and I wanted to combine those two interests. What I remember most is being intrigued that the veterinarians I was shadowing would be able to do a spay on a 10-pound cat in the morning and then drive to a farm an hour later and perform a C-section on a 1,200 pound cow. I loved that every day was something new and you never knew what would walk through the clinic doors or what you’d be getting into when a farmer called to come to his barn. The versatility and innovation of a mixed animal practice veterinarian in the rural Midwest was exactly what I wanted to do with my life and I made that my goal.