Family
By Oneal Peters
Colorado State University
The term multifactorial and poorly understood is a favourite amongst my professors and classmates. Even the very whisper of the word is met with a resounding moan because let’s face it, the reason certain conditions earn this terminology in veterinary medicine is because we have no clue how to explain it so we paste some fancy word to cover up our disillusion and we move on.
Family is sort of multifactorial and poorly understood for me and I suspect many others feel the same way. While I know what family is and what it means to me in my own life, I know that I wouldn’t ever be able to explain how my family is to anyone not directly in our clan. That’s what’s so wonderful about it. It’s your own secret, something that you don’t have to share with anyone if you don’t want to. But here I am, attempting to explain how my family has helped me not only handle vet school now, but how they helped me prepare for this my entire life.
I can remember my dad telling me about his little sister, even when I was very young. He said that he had encouraged her not to sit around and behave like every other suburban middle class school girl but instead to work hard at school so she could be something one day. And somehow it had worked. She was valedictorian of her high school class and went on to get pristine grades in college. Now she is an executive in a major engineering firm, and owns a significant portion of the companies’ shares. So there it was, a random story about my smarty pants Aunt lingering in my brain as I grew up. I didn’t pay much attention to my dad’s influence on others until the other day when I listened to him talking to my younger sibling. “Everyday,” he said, scruffing up his wild grey hair and pausing while he tasted the words in his mouth, making sure they came out just right “you should either learn something new or make some money. If you do that, your life won’t be wasted.” My siblings just stare and sigh, another speech from their dad to add to all the others. “Yes dad, we know,” they reply, wanting to move past the lecture onto more exciting topics of conversation. I sit and watch, smile, I’ve heard it all before too. I am sure my Aunt did as she grew up, eating up her big brothers advice with a voracious appetite, so eager to please him just for the sake of making him proud. And now I realize what has always been there. The subtle urging of my father, quietly and precisely encouraging you to succeed, at first to make him proud, but as time goes on you start to try your hardest for yourself. Eventually, that’s all there is left and you forget that it all started with small pieces of advice, placed in the atmosphere for those who want it.
Veterinary school has its many challenges, and each member of my family, whether it’s a friend, my husband, sister, brother or mother has helped me get through those tough days, each person helping me in their own unique way. But it’s those moments like tonight, studying (and writing) at one in the morning that my dad is there for me, a steady voice in my head encouraging me to keep going no matter what and do my very best at all times and to always remember nothing worth doing is ever easy. The support from my family is mutifactorial, but perhaps now, after looking back all those years, it’s slightly better understood.