RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — On Saturday NC State’s campus was home to snakes, dogs, other animals and hundreds of people as the School of Veterinary Medicine held their first open house in nearly three years.

“We’ve been working since October to put this day together,” said Mallory Flanagan, a second-year student at the school and organizer of the event.

She said it’s all about giving people a glimpse into the life of a veterinary medical student.

“I think it’s important for us to remember that veterinarians don’t just fix animals, we’re also educators and we’re here for the public as well,” Flanagan said.

There were booths where people of all ages could see skeletal structures, watch how surgeries are done and learn about what goes into saving an animal’s life. Flanagan says for future generations of veterinarians, it’s an eye opener for what their own future could hold.

“We’re here to teach people and show vet med to kids, we were all at that point, too, and so to get to see vet med once more through kids eyes is really, it inspires the passion once more,” she said.