Vet School fundraisers held for halfway day trip

Massey’s third year Vet students have been “blown away” by the support shown as they continue to fundraise for the traditional Vet School halfway day celebration trip to Taupō. 

Vet student Eloise said she and her fellow halfway day organiser Sophie first decided to move the date of halfway day to the beginning of next year rather than the actual halfway mark of the Vet degree after realising they lacked the funds to organise the trip. Covid-19 also came along at the same time to throw a spanner in the works for the early fundraiser plans. 

“We pitched to the class about fundraising ideas, and this is how all these ideas came about. Behind the scenes there are still ideas that are starting to be organised as it’s taken us a wee bit longer to figure out how to run them! Without the help of the class and the class reps, Sophie and I would never have been able to do it all!” 

Some of the ongoing fundraisers include the sale of handmade masks, keyrings and scent diffusers. Two other fundraisers, class tea towels and proceeds from the show ring at the NZ Virtual Cat Show, will have 10% of their proceeds donated towards The Whale and Dolphin Trust NZ. A mystery art fundraiser is also being run, which allows people to pay for a piece of art of their pet or an animal of their choice by a randomly assigned mystery artist at different price tiers. 

Vet student Leigh said they have been blown away by the support from people willing to help with making the art and the amount of people signing up to purchase a mystery art piece. 

“I was personally expecting us to just do a couple of cute low tier pieces, but everyone has been so supportive and kind with their donations. One of the artists said, ‘People hate to pay even a little money for a portrait of themselves but happy to do anything for their animals.’ The human-animal bond is strong, [it’s] lovely to see how much people adore their animals. Creating art is excellent for your mental health and it’s so wholesome to see how happy our art receivers are with the results,” she said. 

Vet student Bryony said she was also “pleasantly surprised” by the support of donators and the talented artists. She said the halfway day was a chance for Vet students to briefly escape study. 

“Basically, it's for us to get out of our office chairs, relax, take a deep breath and re-centre, and reconnect with each other as friends and human beings (having just spent the past 2.5 years as study robots, and planning to continue roboting through the next 2.5 years),” she said. 

Vet student Kiana said halfway day is extra important to the students due to both the high intensity and demanding nature of the degree, as well as its length. 

“We'll be having our halfway day when most students have already finished their Bachelor’s lol. So, getting the chance to go out and have a weekend away is good to relax, spend time with our classmates, and unwind before [fourth] and [fifth] year kick our asses.”