"Me and my mom are staying in residence at UPEI so got up early and had a great breakfast in the dining hall then off to AVC for 8:00 am. Met up with my new friends and found out what everyone did last night - touring the Cow's Ice Cream Factory was a big hit!. I’m on the Blue Whale team and our Counsellor Jen got us all together at 8:20. Today is a great day with lots of hands-on stuff with animals.

We started off in the Large Animal Hospital where we learned how to do a physical exam on a horse. Our horse, Barney, was huge – big and brown! After hearing about his hooves, heart, lungs, and ears, the veterinarian gave each of us a stethoscope and showed us how to use it. Barney’s heart beat was so loud! Sweet…

Break time! After a granola bar and juice, we went to the Pathology Lab where we saw - and touched - some really neat things. I loved touching the inside of the leatherback turtles’ esophagus. Who would have thought they only eat jellyfish?

The best part of the morning was Exotics and Pocket Pets. They had lots of really cool animals – a corn snake, some rabbits, rats, and an iguana. I got to handle the snake which was really cool - really, they are cold to touch!

Lunch was not bad today – hamburgers with Island home fries. Had some awesome chocolate pudding for dessert. I'm way full now!

After lunch, the Whales saw an awesome show by Red Rock Agility Dogs. The dogs went through tunnels, over obstacles, and between poles. They went so fast I couldn't believe it! They had a Border Collie, a German Shepherd, and a little Terrier called Emily - she managed to keep up with the big dogs really well. Then it was our turn to run the course which is not easy to do but was a lot of fun!

Our last thing in the afternoon was to learn how to do pet first aid. Most of the Whales have pets so we’re happy to learn how to help them if they get hurt. That’s it for today. Tomorrow we’re going on a field trip to a dairy farm, I will learn about radiology and animal welfare, and get to hear about things that veterinarian schools look for in their students.

AVC Vet Camp is great! And they really want us to get hands-on experience to find out what life as a veterinarian is really like. So far, I'm living the dream!"