My SAVMA Symposium Experience

Adam Silkworth, Ross University

Experiences, Entry

After spending the last 2 years on the Caribbean island of St. Kitts attending Ross University, the little snow that we received in Loveland, Colorado at the 2014 SAVMA Symposium was a welcome reminder of the world outside of the beaches and oceans that I had been currently living.

Traveling from such a long distance made the trip there in and of itself an adventure alone. We had to sprint through the Dallas airport, making our connection by mere seconds, due to our Miami connection being delayed. But not before we got Wendy’s in the Miami airport that we had all been talking about for days leading up to the trip.

We didn’t land in Denver until 11:10 p.m. the night before Symposium was to kick off and still had over an hour ride to the hotel. Let us not forget the time difference between the Caribbean and Colorado. By our body clocks, we didn’t land until 1:10 a.m. and arrive at the hotel until well after 2 a.m. Oh and did I mention that breakfast was at 6 a.m. No sleep ‘til Symposium!

Breakfast consisted of every amazing food that you could wish for from pancakes to eggs and bacon. Or perhaps you fancied a bowl of cereal. Whatever you like, it was there. I shall remind you again that we all came from Ross University and what is the first thing that Ross students do when they land in the mother country? Make a quick trip to Target of course! We can’t pass up the rare opportunity for certain necessities and things that our friends have requested! The rest of the day consisted of getting settled and acquainted with our surroundings before the opening ceremony and ignite talks to get everyone pumped up for the weekend. If you have never heard of an ignite-talk let me explain. A speaker gets 5 minutes and 20 PowerPoint slides and each slide advances after only 15 seconds. They can speak about any topic they would like. It’s exciting, motivating and these talks certainly got the attendees pumped up for the pub crawl extravaganza around Old Town Fort Collins that evening to kick off the weekend.

Friday was special for me personally because I got to visit The Wild Animal Sanctuary. The sanctuary consists of over 290 Lions, Tigers, Bears, Leopards, Mountain Lions, Wolves and other large carnivores which have access to over 320 acres of land in which they can freely roam. These animals are all strictly rescued captive and endangered large carnivores. The Wild Animal Sanctuary is like no other of its kind in the United States. It is the only facility that gives large acreage, free roaming access to rescued carnivores. To see these animals you must make the trek on the “Mile into the Wild”, which consists of a number of elevated platforms and walkways that overlook these habitats. Let me warn you of one thing: Do NOT wear only a hooded sweatshirt in the middle of March! It was very cold and the wind was non-stop for the entire tour. If I have one regret from Symposium, this is it. Friday ended with a trivia night in which our island team wore amazing dashikis and took the crowd by surprise with our uniforms. Unfortunately we didn’t make it past the first round but certainly lost in style.

I had trouble deciding which lectures to attend on Saturday as there are so many to choose from while at Symposium. At any given time there are at least 2 lectures that sound fascinating and unfortunately you have to make a life or death decision and decide on one, unless that is, you are a superhero, which unfortunately for me, I am not. After lunch I attended a couple of lectures to round out my learning experience for the weekend after which I donned my fancy pants for the farewell gala and an excellent steak dinner. The closing speaker, Dr. Stephen Withrow, was truly inspiring and knowledgeable and it proved an excellent way to round out the weekend.

For anyone thinking of attending the SAVMA Symposium in the future I have two words for you: Do it. The people you meet are unbelievably inspirational and the places and experiences you get to take part in are truly and honestly once in a lifetime.